Pravda and Gazeta (Russian language) are reporting that both flights Tu-134 and Tu-154 experienced midair explosions in the tail sections of the planes and that the explosive used was hexogen. Hexogen was the explosive used in a series of apartment bombings by Chechnyan terrorists in Russia several months ago.
The explosions took place without warning.
The pilots of Tu-154 never pushed the distress button.
Russian transport minister Igor’ Levitin is quoted as saying.
Activation of the SOS button took place at the moment of the destruction of the aircraft.
UPDATE: Tracked-back to Outside the Beltway.
That was so horrible. I had my flight from NY to Moskow in a week and I was so afraid of that trip…
Jane ( http://all-translations.com )
The disaster comes just days before presidential elections in Chechnya, where Russia is at war with separatist rebels, and follows an intensification of violence there that has killed dozens in recent days.