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The death toll in Friday's twin explosions that destroyed the Chechen government building has risen to 61, a senior Chechen official said on Sunday evening.
Mikhail Babich, Chechen Prime Minister, told a television interview that up to now there are still 86 people in hospitals both in Chechnya and other Russian regions.
The explosions went off almost simultaneously at about 2:30 p.m.Moscow time (1130 GMT) Friday. About 200 people usually worked in the building, sources said.
Suicide bombers in a pair of trucks roared up to the heavily guarded government compound and blew them up.
The explosions not only wrecked the headquarters but also wipedout a cafeteria and damaged several nearby buildings, including those of Chechnya's federal security service and the finance ministry.
Despite the bloody terrorist attacks, Babich vowed to hold the referendum in Chechnya scheduled for March 2003. "All of us are sure that the referendum will take place," he stressed.
It was the biggest Chechen rebel attack since gunmen seized a Moscow theater in October, with 41 raiders and 129 hostages died.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2002)
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