St Petersburg train massacre survivors 'had their faces ripped off' in blast as it's revealed Muslim suicide bomber was radicalised two months ago on a trip to his native Kyrgyzstan
- Witness accounts have revealed the true horror of the St Petersburg explosion
- The 22-year-old former sushi chef killed 14 and injured 68 more in metro blast
- Sources have said he flew to Kyrgyzstan in February, returning a changed man
- Killer's parents flew overnight to Russia to help investigators with their probe
A smiling assassin: Akbarzhon Dzalilov
Suicide bomber Akbarzhon Dzhalilov was radicalised just two months ago on a trip to his native Kyrgyzstan when he said goodbye to his parents ahead of the St Petersburg train massacre.
Victims' faces were ripped off when the the 22-year-old former sushi chef killed 14 and left 68 injured by detonating a bomb on a crowded metro train in the Russian city on Monday.
Sources say he flew in February and returned a completely different man.
Family friends in the city of Osk said Dzhalilov, an ethnic Uzbek, had 'golden hands' - as one revealed 'he could do any work, and do it very well' - but Russian law enforcement agencies are now urgently seeking to understand when he switched his skills from repairing cars and decorating houses to making bombs.
The killer's parents flew overnight to Russia from their native Kyrgyzstan to help a probe that needs to clarify if he was working alone or is part of a terror group plotting other explosions.
Meanwhile, families of two young women have revealed that their faces have been wrecked by the devastating bomb - containing ball bearings and bolts - on the crowded metro train.
Evelina Antonova's nose was virtually blown off in the blast and her face severely burned.
The 24 year old graduate of St Petersburg State University injuries are so extensive that she was not recognisable after Monday's cruel suicide bombing - and she was so traumatised she could not remember her name.
Anna Seleznyova, 20, has also suffered devastating facial injuries and cannot breathe on her own as she lies in a coma in intensive care, say friends.
Anna Seleznyova, 20, who suffered what is described ' devastating facial injuries' in the blast
The student, pictured here, is said to be in a coma and cannot breathe independently
Anna Seleznyova, studying at the Russian Academy of Justice, was one of 68 injured
The St Petersburg suicide bomber's parents arrive in Moscow two days after the massacre
A passenger looks at a symbolic memorial at Technologicheskiy Institute subway station in St. Petersburg, Russia
Police officers walk passed piled of flowers at a memorial at Technologicheskiy Institute subway station in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday, April 5, 2017
A picture taken from Akbarzhon Dzalilov showing the killer relaxing in a bar thought to be in Russia
House of the suicide bomber's parents in Osh, Kyrgyzstan - the country he was radicalised in
One of the blast survivors Evelina Antonova, whose face has now been completely disfigured
Evelina Antonova, whose nose was virtually blown off in the blast and her face severely burned
The pictured 24-year-old graduate of St Petersburg State University has been left unrecognisable after the horrific attack
Evelina Antonova was so traumatised by the massive explosion that she didn't know her own name
Evelina was initially labelled 'victim 511' when she came into Dzhanelidze hospital because her identity could not be established.
Other victims' accounts of the terror attack reveal the desperate scramble to save loved ones who had lost pieces of flesh.
Some have been left deafened by the blast and survivors were as close as three feet to suicide bomber Akbarzhon Dzhalilov.
Initial evidence suggests a trip to his home country for one month in February was decisive in his radicalisation by 'Islamic emissaries', reported Interfax.
A source told the news agency he 'travelled to Kyrgyzstan for about a month and returned from there a completely different man.
'He became unsociable and closed.
'Law enforcement agencies assume that Dzhalilov was recruited by extremists.'
Investigators are also examining a trip he supposedly made to South Korea three years ago.
Toys, candles and flowers are placed at a symbolic memorial at Technologicheskiy Institute subway station in St Petersburg, Russia
The suicide bomber's mother arrives in Russia to help police with their investigations
A smoking gun: Akbarzhon Dzalilov poses for a picture (left) and smokes a shisha pipe (right)
People lay flowers at a symbolic memorial at Technologicheskiy Institute subway station in St. Petersburg, Russia
Commuters pay their respects by laying flowers at the scene of the blast in the metro station
Akbarzhon Dzhalilov is said to have been radicalised just two months ago in Kyrgyzstan
A picture posted by the St Petersburg killer on social media showing cards, dice, bullets, two guns and wads of cash
'It is not excluded that in reality he was in Syria or Iraq,' said the newspaper, which added that his trip back to Osh this year was 'probably to say goodbye' to his parents.
'On his way back he did not go to Pulkovo (St Petersburg airport) as usual but to Moscow where he met somebody.
'It could have been the curator of the terrorist group or the real mastermind of the attack in the St Petersburg metro.'
Back in St Petersburg he was on the police radar - but only because he failed to pay traffic fines.
A family friend in Osh said: 'They are very good-minded and quiet family.
'The father used to go to the mosque on Friday, but none of them were ever religious fanatics.'
The bomber skilfully renovated the family home in Osh, making other neighbours jealous at the quality of his work.
Dzhalilov killed 14 when he detonated a bomb
His father worked in the car repair business in St Petersburg and six years ago took Dzhalilov to do the same job.
Recently, the father returned permanently to Kyrgyzstan.
'It is possible that the fact (the son) remained in Russia alone made him vulnerable, he may have come under the influence of recruiters,' said a neighbour.
'But no one knows this for sure.
'The guy had always been very obedient and ready to help.'
The bomber's home in St Petersburg has been searched.
There have been reports of a second bomber of accomplice but no details have emerged so far.
Russian premier Dmitry Medvedev said that while Dzhalilov died in his own blast 'nobody plots such crimes on their own, there are always a lot of abettors'.
He labelled the attackers as 'monsters'.
One victim from the blast remains unidentified, said Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee.
'More than 40 eyewitnesses, including passers-by and subway employees have been interviewed,' she said.
'Surveillance camera records have been obtained and are now being carefully studied by experts.'
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