A rising death toll, a possible court decision, and a nationwide day of mourning Latest updates on Russia’s deadliest terrorist attack since Beslan
The mass shooting and arson attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside of Moscow on Friday has officially become the deadliest act of terrorism in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004. ISIS Khorosan, a branch of the Islamic State, has claimed responsibility for the attack, and U.S. officials say they have intelligence confirming the claim. Online resources linked to ISIS published a graphic first-person body-cam video of the attack. Meduza shares the latest developments.
The death toll from the terrorist attack at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert venue stands at 137 people, including three children, according to the latest official update. An additional 180 people were injured, including five children, and 114 were hospitalized, Moscow’s regional Health Ministry reported. On Saturday evening, Moscow Governor Andrey Vorobyov announced that rescue operations at the site of the attack had concluded but that search operations were still underway. As of 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, 91 cubic meters (about 3213 cubic feet) of debris had been cleared from the destroyed concert hall.
The Russian authorities have declared Sunday a day of mourning. State institutions throughout the country have lowered their flags to half mast and most public events have been canceled. The country’s federal TV channels have changed their broadcast schedule and have stopped showing commercials for the day. Several embassies, including those of the U.S., the Netherlands, and Great Britain, have also lowered their flags. According to Russian state media, people began coming to the site of the attack early Sunday morning to light candles in memory of the victims. The last time Russia declared a nationwide day of mourning was on March 28, 2018, after a deadly fire at a shopping center in the city of Kemerovo killed 60 people.
Online resources linked to ISIS have published a first-person body-cam video of the attack. From the footage, it appears that at least four people were carrying out the violence. The video shows a close-up view of the attackers shooting into the crowd as well as one of the attackers slitting the throat of a man lying on the ground. The faces of the terrorists themselves have been blurred, but they can be heard shouting phrases including “Kill them — don’t be sorry” and “The infidels will be defeated” as well as praising Allah.
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Moscow’s Basmanny Court will likely determine the suspects’ pre-trial restrictions in the coming hours. While it has not been officially reported that prosecutors have requested the suspects’ formal arrest, security outside of the building has been tightened, with metal barriers appearing there on Sunday morning. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrests of the four main suspects on Saturday morning. According to the agency, the men were detained in Russia’s Bryansk region while on their way to Ukraine, where they allegedly had “relevant contacts.” In a video circulating online that appears to show the arrest of one of the alleged perpetrators, a person wearing camouflage is seen cutting off the man’s ear and forcing it into his mouth. According to Russian state media, the suspects were brought to the Russian Investigative Committee headquarters in Moscow on Saturday evening.
Crocus City Hall will be rebuilt, according to an official statement from the company Crocus International. “We will never forget those who fell victim to the terrorists. What was destroyed by their dirty hands will be restored,” the firm said in an official statement. The venue’s owner, businessman Aras Agalarov, visited the site of the attack on Saturday. He called Friday’s events “inexplicable from the standpoint of universal human values.”