< p>The terrorists then threw a grenade or incendiary bomb, causing the fire to quickly spread to the concert hall in the northern Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk.
One of the Kalashnikovs used by the terrorists to spread death in Moscow -Photo : Investigative Committee of Russia via AP
A crowd had flocked to a concert by the Soviet-era rock band “Picnic” set to perform at 8pm when the carnage began. But before the music started, the gunmen entered the auditorium and began to open fire.
Dozens of people hid behind seats in the auditorium or rushed to the basement entrances or the roof to escape the bullets.
Videos posted on the Telegram platform show moments of the armed men's invasion, shots at auditorium, spectators seeking shelter behind the seats and others rushing for the exit.
< p>The fire was brought under control after several hours and after part of the roof collapsed.
Watch video (WARNING, HARD IMAGES!):
The carnage in the Moscow suburb brought back painful memories of the Islamic State attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris in 2015, when 89 people were shot dead.
An eyewitness at the scene hours after the carnage saw black smoke and flames billowing from the roof of the concert hall, which can accommodate up to 6,000 people. Helicopters tried to put out the flames that engulfed the large building. Video shows the terrorists shooting people under what appeared to be an entrance sign to 'Crocus City Hall', while others show bodies and groups of panicked people rushing towards the exits as gunfire rings out.
Guards in the hall concerts had no weapons
The guards at the concert hall in Moscow's Krasnogorsk were unarmed and some of them may have been killed at the start of the attack, Russian media reported. Some Russian news agencies reported that the attackers fled before special forces and police arrived.
Reports said that police patrols were searching for several vehicles that the attackers could have used to escape.
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Draconian security measures at Moscow airports and train stations
After the attack, Russia stepped up security at airports and public transport stations across Moscow and the surrounding area, home to more than 21 million people.
The United States said it had information that confirm Islamic State's responsibility for the attack.
Information indicates that the “Wilayat Khorasan” branch of ISIS may be behind the massacre. Vladimir Putin held talks with the heads of Russia's law enforcement and emergency services. The Russian President was briefed on developments by the head of the FSB, the Investigative Committee, the National Guard and the ministers of the Interior, Health and Emergency Management.
Islamic extremists have previously launched deadly terror attacks in Russia with no clear political connection. In 2002 Chechen separatists took 912 hostages in Moscow's Dubrovka theater demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Caucasus republic.
The US had warned two weeks ago of a terrorist attack in Moscow
The massacre came two weeks after the US embassy in Russia warned that “extremists” were preparing a terror attack in Moscow. “The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, which include concerts, and we advise American citizens to avoid large gatherings for the next 48 hours,” the US Embassy warned on March 7.
Russian authorities announced on March 3 that six suspected ISIS fighters had been killed in an operation in Ingushetia, a small, mostly Muslim republic in the Caucasus region.
Putin had rejected the “provocative” West warns of terror strikes
In remarks broadcast three days ago, Vladimir Putin accused the West of making “provocative statements” about warning of possible terror attacks in Moscow and rejected them. “I will remind you of the recent, let's put it bluntly, provocative statements by some official Western structures about possible terrorist attacks in Russia,” Putin said. “All this looks like obvious blackmail and an attempt to intimidate, destabilize our country,” he said before the FSB state security service.
SOURCE: Iefimerida.gr
