Moscow concert hall attack: Death toll rises to 137
The death toll from the attack on the Crocus City Hall near Moscow has risen to 137, Russian investigators said on Sunday. Four heavily armed men opened fire on the concert hall audience on Friday night.
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The bodies of 62 people have so far been identified. Around 150 people were injured in the attack, many of them critically.
Four perpetrators have been arrested in the investigation into the attack, the Kremlin said on Saturday. Russia's interior minister said that the four suspects were all foreign nationals.
Pointing at Ukraine
Russian media had previously claimed that some of the suspects were from Tajikistan. In a phone call with president Vladimir Putin on Sunday, Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon condemned the attack, saying that "terrorists have no nationality".
Although IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, Russia has pointed the finger at Ukraine and remained silent on IS claims. Putin claimed on Saturday that the suspects had been captured as they were fleeing to Ukraine.
"What happened yesterday in Moscow is obvious: Putin and the other scum are just trying to blame someone else," Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in response.
National day of mourning
Russia observed a day of national mourning on Sunday. Across Moscow, large illuminated billboards showed a burning candle, the date of the attack and the words "We mourn".
Many mourners laid flowers at the concert hall on the outskirts of the city. By midday, lines of people several metres long were at the makeshift memorial near the venue's fence, according to Russian news agency Tass.
People lay flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk on 24 March 2024 © PHOTO OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP
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