Russian investigators said Tuesday they had concluded that the Moscow subway explosion that occurred earlier this month was a suicide bombing, Russian news agencies reported.  

At least 41 were killed and more than 130 others injured when a deadly blast ripped through a crowded metro car in the Russian capital during morning rush hour on Feb. 6.

The bomb that exploded was equivalent in force to four to five kilograms of TNT and was made of ammonia saltpeter and aluminum powder, the Itar-Tass and Interfax reported, citing Russia's Federal Security Service's (FSB) press office as saying.

It was also identical to the homemade bomb detonated by a suicide attacker on a commuter train in Russia's southern city of Yessentuki on Dec. 5 that killed at least 47. The FSB officials said that there was a connection between the two blasts.

Forty of the 41 Moscow metro blast victims have been identified, according to Itar-Tass.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the blast on Chechen rebels and suggested that it was an attempt to put pressure on him ahead of the March 14 presidential election, which is widely believed to see a landslide victory by him.

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2004)