VIDEOS. Shooting in Moscow: 40 dead, more than 100 injured, roof collapsed… what we know about the attack in the concert hall

Laa salle Crocus City Hall près de Moscou en feu visée par une attaque. MAXPPP – MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Ce vendredi 22 mars 2024, le Crocus City Hall, une salle de concert située au nord-ouest de Moscou, a été la cible d’une attaque faisant plusieurs morts et un incendie.

Attackers opened fire with automatic weapons on Friday in a concert hall located in the suburbs of Moscow, the Crocus City Hall, killing at least 40 people according to the TASS news agency, while ' #39;at least one explosion also sounded on site and a large fire broke out. At least forty people were killed and more than 100 others were injured, Russian news agency TASS reported, citing the FSB, Russia's federal security service.

"A terrible tragedy"

The first injured arrived in Moscow hospitals, according to the Interfax agency. Flames and thick black smoke were escaping from the compound, Reuters images show. Two explosions were heard, according to Russian media, which reported that attackers barricaded themselves inside the complex. The shooting took place while the Russian rock band "Picnic" held a symphony concert at Crocus City Hall, a venue inaugurated in 2009, with a capacity of some 7,000 seats.

"Suddenly, there were explosions behind us, gunshots. A burst of gunfire, I don't know what it was, a witness who asked to remain anonymous told Reuters. "A stampede started, everyone rushed towards the escalator", he said added. "Everyone was screaming, everyone was running."

The shooting comes less than a week after the re-election of Vladimir Putin as Russian president in a context marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Around a hundred people were evacuated from the basement of the concert hall but some are still stuck inside and others have taken refuge on the roof of the enclosure, according to TASS. The roof of the concert hall began to collapse, RIA reported.

The Russian prosecutor's office called the attack "terrorist" while the Russian Foreign Ministry denounced a "bloody terrorist attack". "The entire international community is obliged to condemn this monstrous crime", said the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova. "Everything is done to save people", she added.

"A terrible tragedy took place in the Crocus City shopping center today", declared Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. "I am sorry for the relatives of the victims." All weekend gatherings have been canceled in Moscow, announced Sergei Sobyanin.

Ukraine is not involved in the shooting which took place in a concert hall near Moscow, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday. "Ukraine certainly had nothing to do with the shooting and explosions at Crocus City Hall. This makes no sense, wrote the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency on the X platform.

US Alert

A video posted on Russian social networks shows scenes of chaos with a crowd of spectators trying to flee this famous hall in the Krasnogorsk district while gunshots ring out. In another video, a number of people can be seen lying lifeless on the ground in pools of blood outside the concert hall. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of these videos.

‼️‼️Moscou : "Krokus City Hall" après la fusillade. Le toit du bâtiment est en train de s’effondrer.

Selon les médias russes, il y a au moins 15 morts et 50 blessés. pic.twitter.com/2AbhkI43vu

— Andreï VAITOVICH (@andreivaitovich) March 22, 2024

FLASH INFO 🔴 Une fusillade au "Krokus City Hall" à Moscou. Selon les premières informations, il y aurait des blessés et des morts. La fusillade a éclaté avant le concert du groupe « Picnic ».

« Sucre de Ryazan » ? pic.twitter.com/VhgFYH5sx8

— Andreï VAITOVICH (@andreivaitovich) March 22, 2024

"The images are just horrific and difficult to watch, and our hearts obviously go out to the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting", said John Kirby, White House spokesman in Washington. The US Embassy in Russia warned this month of an imminent risk of attacks from extremists. in the Russian capital.

A few hours earlier, the FSB had announced that it had foiled a planned attack on a Moscow synagogue by a cell of the Islamic State organization. Security measures have been strengthened at airports and railway stations in the Russian capital, TASS reported.