The Moscow Times By The Moscow Times Staff
A group of armed men opened fire at a concert hall in a Moscow suburb on Friday night, killing at least 40 people and injuring 145 others, Russian authorities said, marking one of the deadliest such attacks in Russia in recent years.
A video shared online showed at least two masked men entering the Crocus City Hall, with one repeatedly firing shots from what appeared to be an assault rifle. Another graphic video showed four men, with at least three carrying weapons, chasing a group of people and firing at them point blank.
Footage published by the state-run TASS news agency showed a large fire at Crocus City Hall, which is located around 16 kilometers northwest of the center of Moscow.
Later on Friday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a post on its Telegram channel.
Shortly following initial news reports of the shooting, Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said he had arrived at the scene and was leading response efforts to the incident.
More than 70 ambulance teams were working near Crocus City Hall and medics were helping those who had been injured, Vorobyov said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the attack “within the first few minutes” and that he was receiving constant updates on the situation.
Spetznaz and riot police units were sent in response to the incident, the TASS news agency reported, while a video later shared by news outlets showed law enforcement officers encircling the concert hall.
Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev also arrived at the scene, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
A video published by the independent news outlet Sotavision showed riot police shouting and pointing their weapons at journalists and camera crews who were trying to cover the events outside the concert hall, physically pushing them away from the area.
According to a journalist who was at Crocus City Hall during the time of the attack, a grenade or an incendiary bomb was thrown after the shooting broke out and caused a fire…
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