The case in summary:
Expand/minimize fact box
- There has been a mass shooting in a concert hall outside Moscow in Russia.
- According to the Russian authorities, 60 people have been killed. 145 must be damaged.
- Several perpetrators are still at large.
- The terrorist group IS claims to be behind the attack.
Many have been killed and injured after a mass shooting at the Crocus City Hall concert hall just outside Moscow.
According to the Russian authorities, over 60 people have been killed. It is the deadliest attack in Russia since 2004, writes Reuters.
Ambulance personnel transport the body of a victim of the terrorist attack.
Photo: Sergei Vedyashkin / AP
The state news agency Tass reports that at least 145 people are said to be injured. There will be children among them, according to the state news agency RIA.
The country’s health minister says in a televised speech at 11pm that 115 people have been taken to hospital, and that 60 of the injured are in a critical condition.
The terrorist group IS claims to be behind the attack, reports the news agencies Reuters and AFP.
The White House says in a statement at 03:00 that earlier in March they warned Russia about the possibility of an attack against large crowds in Moscow.
We warn of strong impressions in the video below:
On videos from inside the concert hall, you can clearly hear several shots and screams.
Asking the world to condemn the attack
The Russian Foreign Ministry asks “the whole world to condemn this terrorist attack”.
National police are looking for the perpetrators in the area around the concert hall.
At 22.40, the state news agency Ria reports that they are probably still at large. Russian authorities have requested a white Renault car.
Police outside Crocus City Hall, where there are also covered bodies after Friday’s mass shooting.
Photo: Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far not publicly commented on the terrorist attack.
Just before 02:00, Health Minister Tatjana Golikova says that Putin wishes the injured a speedy recovery, reports the state news agency Tass.
– Started shooting everyone
An eyewitness Reuters has spoken to tells about the dramatic situation.
– I sat in the hallway up on the balcony. Then we heard shots. At first we didn’t understand what had happened, but I saw for myself how the terrorists came in, started shooting everyone, says the man, who has not been named.
The perpetrators then allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail.
– Everything was suddenly on fire, the man describes.
– We were taken to the exit, which turned out to be locked, so we ran through the entire concert hall to find an exit, but to no avail. We went into the basement and waited for the emergency services, he continues.
Multiple perpetrators
A journalist from the Russian state news agency RIA is said to have been on the scene, and describes that at least three people in camouflage clothing entered the concert hall and started shooting.
Soldiers from the Russian National Guard patrol near the concert hall.
Photo: Alexander Avilov / AP
Other Russian media reports that up to five people are involved in the shooting.
– People in the hallway laid down on the floor to escape the shooting. They lay there for 15-20 minutes, before they started to crawl out. Many managed to get out, describes the RIA journalist according to the news agency itself.
President Vladimir Putin has received regular updates about the shooting and must have given the necessary instructions, says a spokesman for the Kremlin, according to Reuters.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received no information that Norwegian citizens are affected by the attack, writes NTB.
According to the independent newspapers Novaja Gazeta and Meduza, Russian security forces have searched and arrested several people in the area, including civilians.
USA: No indication that Ukraine is involved
– At this time there are no indications that Ukraine is involved in the shooting in Moscow, the White House says according to Reuters.
The adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, Mykhailo Podolyak, also denies that Ukraine has anything to do with the attack.
He writes that on Telegram, according to the AFP news agency.
A spokesperson for the Ukrainian intelligence service describes the events as “a deliberate provocation” by Russian special forces.
Former President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia will “brutally destroy” Ukraine if it turns out that they are behind it, writes Reuters.
A spokesperson for the EU also calls it a terrorist attack, and expresses shock at the incident, according to AFP.
The powerful fire seems far away.
Foto: Sergei Vedyashkin / /Moscow News Agency/AP
Explosion in the area
According to Tass, there must also have been an explosion nearby. The concert hall was on fire for a long time. At 03:00, Moscow’s mayor reports that the fire is mostly out, writes AFP.
There should have been another explosion in the area after the emergency services arrived on the scene, according to the state news agency Ifax.
There is a massive response from emergency services in the area.
Photo: AFP
Several people are said to have been confined in the concert hall and trapped on the roof, according to the state news agency Tass.
Around 100 people are said to have been evacuated, several Russian media reports.
The shooting took place in a concert hall in Krasnogorsk, just outside Moscow.
Several videos have been posted on the messaging service Telegram which apparently show the incident.
Among other things, you can see armed people walking slowly through a reception area, and shooting at people standing against a wall.
Other videos show bloody, injured people.
There is a large police presence at the scene. In addition, at least 70 ambulances must have been sent there, according to Russian media.
Photo: Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
Enhanced security
Security at airports and train stations in Moscow has been tightened after the attack, according to the state news agency Tass.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin calls the shooting a terrible tragedy, according to the state news agency RIA.
All major events have been canceled this weekend as a result of the attack, says the mayor, according to Reuters.
There is a large security presence outside the concert hall.
Photo: Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
Warned of terrorist threat
On 8 March, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOF) urged Norwegian citizens to avoid large crowds in Russia, after they became aware of reports of an increased terrorist threat in the next couple of days.
– Norwegian citizens are encouraged to avoid large crowds, be vigilant and follow advice from local authorities, wrote the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoD) on its pages.
At the beginning of March, the USA and Sweden also went out and warned their citizens against the danger of terrorism in the country for the next 48 hours.
The US embassy has warned that extremists were planning an attack in Moscow, Reuters wrote on March 8. The day before, the FSB claimed that they had foiled a planned attack by IS against a synagogue.
It is not known if tonight’s shooting has anything to do with these warnings.
Published 22.03.2024, at 18.33 Updated 23.03.2024, at 07.07