Open in full screen mode Russian emergency service vehicles are parked near the Crocus City Hall concert hall following a shooting. Agence France-Presse At least 40 people died and more than a hundred others were injured in a shooting followed by a huge fire Friday evening at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow where several armed men entered, according to the authorities who denounce “a bloody terrorist attack”. Russian diplomatic spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced a bloody terrorist attack and a monstrous crime. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the cancellation of all public events. Russian pro-Ukraine fighters have denied any involvement in the attack, while the Ukrainian presidency said the country had nothing to do with the shooting. The attack perpetrated by several armed individuals took place in the evening at Crocus City Hall, a concert hall located in Krasnogorsk, a suburb located just outside northwest exit of the Russian capital. Start of widget. Skip widget?End of widget. Return to top of widget? According to a journalist from the public press agency Ria Novosti, individuals in camouflage outfits burst onto the floor of the concert hall before opening fire and throwing a grenade or incendiary bomb, which caused a fire. Loading ELSE ON INFO: Princess Kate Middleton suffers from cancerLoading ELSE ON NEWS: Princess Kate Middleton suffers from cancer The people in the room lay on the ground to protect themselves from the gunfire for 15 to 20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out, said this Ria Novosti journalist. The emergency services, cited by the Interfax agency, reported of a group of two to five unidentified people wearing tactical uniforms and armed with automatic weapons who opened fire on security guards at the entrance to the concert hall and then started shooting on the public.
Princess Kate Middleton suffers from cancer
Princess Kate Middleton suffers from cancer
Several armed men reportedly burst into a large concert hall in Moscow and fired at automatic weapon on the crowd, injuring an unknown number of people.
According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, firefighters managed to evacuate around a hundred people who were in the basement of the concert hall . Operations are underway to rescue people from the roof of the building using lifting equipment.
According to the TASS news agency, around a third of the building is on fire. Videos posted on social networks show the roof of the building on fire, large plumes of black smoke escaping towards the sky.
The law enforcement agencies are also on site, according to Russian agencies. This attack occurred during a concert by the Russian rock band Piknik, whose members were evacuated, TASS reported.
Smoke rises above the burning concert hall at Crocus City Hall in the aftermath of a shooting.
The Telegram news channels Baza and Mash, known to be close to the police, published videos showing at least two armed men advancing in the hall and others showing dead bodies and groups of people rushing towards the exit.
Other images show spectators hiding behind seats or trying to escape. evacuate the concert hall.
The spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, denounced on Telegram a bloody terrorist attack, calling on the international community to condemn this heinous crime.
The White House is in thoughts with the victims of the terrible attack in a concert hall in Moscow, said a spokesperson for the American presidency, evoking horrible and difficult images to watch.
Russia has been the target of numerous attacks in the past committed by Islamist groups, but also of shootings without political motives or attributed to unbalanced people.
In 2002, Chechen fighters took 912 people hostage in Moscow's Dubrovka theater to demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.
The hostage-taking ended with an assault by special forces, and the death of 130 people, almost all of them asphyxiated by the gas used by the police.
This attack also comes as Russia has been carrying out an assault on its Ukrainian neighbor for two years and x27;she has been the target of attacks by Russian anti-Kremlin fighters for several days in the border regions of Ukraine.