115 dead in Moscow concert attack, 4 'terrorists' arrested
The death toll in Friday's Moscow concert hall attack has gone up to 115, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Saturday. Meanwhile, eleven people were arrested on Saturday for their involvement in the attack, the Kremlin said, adding that among those arrested were four 'terrorists'.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media.
The attackers stormed a large concert hall in Moscow, unleashing a hail of gunfire and igniting the venue in flames. This shocking incident unfolded just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin secured a landslide victory in what critics labeled a 'highly orchestrated' presidential election.
Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's Amaq agency said on Telegram.
"Islamic State fighters attacked a large gathering of Christians in the city of Krasnogorsk on the outskirts of the Russian capital, Moscow, killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely," the statement said.
Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said the attackers had fled in a Renault vehicle that was spotted by police in Bryansk region, about 340 km (210 miles) southwest of Moscow on Friday night and disobeyed instructions to stop, news agency Reuters reported.
He said two were arrested after a car chase, while the other two fled into a forest. From the Kremlin account, it appeared they too were later detained.
Khinshtein said a pistol, a magazine for an assault rifle, and passports from Tajikistan were found in the car. Videos showed the men shooting screaming civilians with automatic weapons. Bodies were then seen motionless.
As the audience settled in for a performance by the Soviet-era rock band "Picnic," gunfire erupted within the packed 6,200-seat hall, where every ticket had been sold out. The band was set to debut their latest hit, "Afraid of Nothing," when chaos ensued.
Videos being circulated on social media captured the assailants systematically targeting concert attendees as panicked crowds fled for safety. The attackers, depicted in footage from the scene, then proceeded to set ablaze the concert hall, dousing curtains and chairs with a flammable liquid before igniting the inferno.
Soon after the incident, a fleet of emergency vehicles were seen gathering outside the ruins of Crocus City Hall, a shopping mall and music venue with a capacity of more than 6,000 people in Krasnogorsk, on Moscow’s western edge.
The roof of the theatre, where crowds had gathered for a performance by the Russian rock band Picnic, collapsed in the early hours of Saturday morning as firefighters spent hours fighting a fire which erupted during the attack.
Some sources told Reuters that 145 people were injured. The Moscow Region said 121 people had been wounded. Earlier it had said 60 of the injured were in a critical condition.
Videos widely shared on social media showed gunmen at the venue shooting civilians at point-blank range. The attack was the deadliest in Russia in years and left the concert hall in flames.
