At least 60 dead as gunmen open fire at Moscow concert hall in ‘ISIS terror attack’ as venue goes up in flames
US intelligence also confirmed ISIS’ responsibility, an official said on Friday, and it is being investigated as a terrorist attack by Russian authorities
Chilling footage shows at least three people in camouflaged clothing bursting into Crocus City Hall before shooting at visitors with automatic weapons.
The assailants also used explosives, causing a massive blaze at the concert venue, on the western edge of Moscow.
More than 60 people were killed and at least 100 injured, according to the FSB.
Russia’s Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that at least 115 people are in hospital, including five children.
He added that 60 of the victims are in a serious condition.
Hundreds were reported to be trapped in the burning building after part of the roof collapsed.
Authorities managed to evacuate 100 people hiding in the basement, with some of the attackers reportedly having barricaded themselves inside.
Video shows huge plumes of black smoke rising over the building as some were rescued from the roof of the building.
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A second blast was reported at the venue while panicked people were seen fleeing the scene amid fears gunmen were holding several hostages.
The attackers reportedly emerged from the underground car park and accessed the building.
It is estimated that more than 6,000 people may have been in the venue as all tickets were sold out.
The Russian special services arrived at the scene but firefighters delayed tackling the blaze until they came.
Extended rounds of gunfire could be heard on multiple videos posted by Russian media and Telegram channels.
One showed two men with rifles moving through the mall.
Another one showed a man inside the auditorium, saying the assailants set it on fire, with incessant gunshots ringing out in the background.Russia unleashes mega blitz on Ukraine with 90 missiles & 60 drones targeting power stations
A witness told RIA Novosti: “People in the hall lay down on the floor to escape the shooting, lay there for 15-20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out.”
A witness said: “Look how it burns. There are people inside”.
Gunshots rang out in the auditorium and in the foyer at the same time, witnesses told local media outlets.
Gunmen set fire to chairs, which led to flames spreading throughout the building, reports say.
One witness said: “Nothing was announced at first. We were already lying on the floor between the chairs.
“They said nothing, absolutely nothing. We just lay there and didn’t know what to do. We just took our seats [when the shooting started].
“It was literally 8pm, 8.05, or 8.10. Shooting started from further away, from above.
“We sat on the very top row. At first everything was ok, it was kind of unclear what it was.
“Then we realised that something was wrong when we noticed that the ticket takers with these walkie-talkies began to run from top to bottom.
“The shooting started all over again, we heard it from above, we were sitting, then we heard it, we started moving all the way down, we realised that they were also shooting below.
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“We lay down at the bottom, in the middle, or rather somewhere on the floor, then we realised that all the people were going upstairs, and we started moving up.
“We eventually got out somewhere at the top. We began to go down the escalators. In short, we hid.
“They were shooting from all sides, just from all of them.
“We lay there, then noticed that people were somehow running down the escalator. We ran after them. There was one girl lying there.”
An anonymous eyewitness told the BBC that many children had been performing in a ballroom dancing competition when the shooting started.
“Children and teenagers were at the competition. People came and said there was shooting. A crush ensued. The children were running out in their ballroom gowns,” they said.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin branded the attack a “terrible tragedy” and said all public events including sports and culture will be cancelled in Moscow this weekend.
He said: “Today a terrible tragedy occurred in the Crocus City shopping centre.
“My condolences to the loved ones of the victims.”
He gave orders to provide all necessary assistance to everyone who suffered during the incident.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said he was heading to the area and setting up a task force to deal with the damage.
The Russian National Guard is now searching for the attackers, whose identity is yet to be established.
President Putin is also receiving regular updates, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
He said: “Vladimir Putin was informed about the beginning of the shooting in the first minutes of what happened in Crocus City Hall.”
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday that Kyiv had nothing to do with the attack.
In a video message posted on Telegram, Podolyak said: “Let’s be straight about this: Ukraine had absolutely nothing to do with these events.
“We have a full-scale, all-out war with the Russian regular army and with the Russian Federation as a country.
“And regardless of everything, everything will be decided on the battlefield.”
In a separate Telegram message, the main intelligence directorate of the Ukrainian defence ministry accused Russian secret services of planning the deadly attack.
“The terrorist attack in Moscow was a planned and deliberate provocation by the Russian special services on (Vladimir) Putin’s orders,” the service said, adding that the aim was to “further escalate and expand the war” with Ukraine.
Opened in October 2009, Crocus City Hall is located in the city’s Krasnogorsk Urban Settlement in the Krasnogorsky District.
The US and UK embassies warned two weeks ago about such an attack at a crowded venue by “extremists”.
They had suggested it would be earlier but warned foreign nationals to stay away from busy venues.
Crocus City is about 14 miles northwest of the Kremlin, and people were there for a concert by group Picnic, a Soviet-era rock band.
The US previously warned: “The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings.”
They had suggested such an atrocity might happen in the next 48 hours, yet nothing did – until now.
People were told to avoid crowds, monitor the local media for updates, and be aware of their surroundings.