2024-03-29T07:02:47+00:00
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/ A bitter experience full of moments of panic was experienced by Russian artist Alyona Kazinskaya last Friday, as she witnessed the bloody attack that took place in the Crocus City Hall near Moscow.
As of Thursday, 143 people were confirmed dead in this massacre, for which ISIS claimed responsibility, but Russia accuses Ukraine of being behind it, which Kiev categorically denies.
Reuters quoted Kaczynskaya as saying that she and her friend bought two tickets to attend a concert by the Soviet-era rock band Picnic, which was performing in front of 6,200 people at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow.
The two friends thought about taking their daughters, but in the end they decided to go alone, and Kazinskaya posted her first 10-second audio message on her channel on the Telegran app at 8:01 pm, and her voice appeared trembling and breathless as the loud sound of gunfire was heard in the message.
She said, “I love you all. I’m at Crocus City Hall for a Picnic concert. There are people shooting at the concert. Call the police.”
As four gunmen carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles stormed the building and opened fire on the audience, Kaczynskaya found herself surrounded in the deadliest attack on Russia in 20 years.
Attack moments
In an interview with Reuters, Kaczynskaya said that she quickly realized that the sounds she heard were gunshots and not sound effects, and she and her friend tried to persuade the audience to leave their seats and run out of the hall. Kaczynskaya added: “We tried to attract the attention of the audience and we succeeded in that. But people were already starting to run.” To leave, we could not catch up with them, and at that moment the gunmen entered the hall and I threw my friend to the ground.”
Confused messages
According to Reuters, the first thing that came to Kaczynskaya’s mind was to get out of the hall at any cost, saying: “Another idea came to my mind, which is that I am wearing white, which makes me an easy target.”
She continued: “I thought about publishing anything at that time. Yes, I was very afraid, but I will publish these messages on my channel (via the Telegram application) because this way, anyone will find them and hear them, and in turn they will ask for help.”
At 8:08 p.m., she wrote three messages in quick succession, the order of which was mixed up because her fingers were shaking on the phone.
The text of these successive messages was: “Please call the police…Crocus City Hall…there is a shooting.”
At that time, the two friends were able to leave the hall, but they were still trapped inside the building, then the shooting stopped and another danger appeared.
At 8:17 p.m., she posted a one-word audio message: “Fire!” As the gunmen used gasoline to start a fire in the huge concert hall, the two friends took refuge in the bathroom and smoke was rising everywhere. They tried to get out six times, but they were unable to see anything. Something caused the smoke and they had to retreat every time, and Kaczynskaya began to lose hope.
Kaczynskaya left a four-second voice message at 8:23 p.m. that she thought would be her last, saying: “I love you. Goodbye.”
Survival
In the midst of this chaos and confusion, the two friends found themselves in another bathroom where many people were hiding, and there was a man saying that he thought he could find a way out, so they followed him until they were able to exit the building, but until this moment Kaczynskaya did not feel safe.
Kazinskaya explained: “Two thoughts came to my mind. The first was that I needed first aid because I couldn’t breathe. I was feeling pain in my lungs and had an asthma attack. The second was that I wanted to get away from the building as much as possible.”
At 8:31 p.m., Kaczynskaya left a new voice message saying, “I’m still alive and receiving first aid. I’m out (of the building). Thank you.”
Kaczynskaya hugged everyone, as she says, when she returned home, adding that she would not go to clubs or large parties again before a long time had passed since this incident, but she felt comfortable because of the great support she received.
Kazinskaya concluded her speech by saying: “I think society needs to be kinder. We only remember that we are human and act kindly when something bad happens, but we have to be human every day.”