Moscow: Militant group ISIS has claimed responsibility for an attack at a popular concert venue complex near Moscow Friday that left at least 60 dead and more than 100 wounded after assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices.
The militant group took responsibility for the attack in a short statement published by ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq on Telegram on Friday.
Video footage from the site of the attack, the Crocus City Hall concert venue, shows the vast complex, which is home to both the music hall and a shopping center, on fire with smoke billowing into the air. State-run RIA Novosti reported the armed individuals “opened fire with automatic weapons” and “threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire.” They then “allegedly fled in a white Renault car,” the news agency said.
State media Russia 24 reported the roof on the venue has partially collapsed.
The attack unfolded before the music group Picnic was set to perform, according to Russia 24. The band’s manager told state media that the performers were unharmed.
The Russia Prosecutor General’s Office said: “Unidentified people in camouflage broke into Crocus City Hall and started shooting before the start of the concert,” according to TASS.
Video footage showed panic as the attack unfolded, with crowds of people huddling together, screaming and ducking behind cushioned seats as gunshots started echoing in the vast hall.
Footage geolocated by CNN shows an armed individual starting at least one fire inside the venue. The individual is seen carrying something in their hand and, as they walk off-screen, a bright flash of light from a large flame is seen in the video.
Regional governor Andrey Vorobyov said everything was being done to save people in what is now the deadliest militant attack on Moscow in decades. A SWAT team was called to the area and more than 70 ambulance teams and doctors were assisting victims.
One hundred and fifteen people have been hospitalized, the Russian Health Ministry told TASS. Sixty people are in a “serious condition.”
Around 100 people were evacuated from the building by firefighters, TASS reported. Rescuers are still working to get people off the roof, according to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation.
