On the evening of March 22nd, Natalya had just taken off her coat and was standing in line at the entrance to a 6,200-seat concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, where a Soviet-era rock band was preparing to perform.
"I was about to step inside when gunshots rang out from behind," Natalya recounted. "The gunfire was loud, like firecrackers or fireworks, but it came in rapid succession. I could hear it right behind me."
"Everyone was screaming and running," Natalya said. She immediately fled to the nearest subway station in the freezing Moscow night without a coat. "I experienced terrible emotions. It was a nightmare."
Russian Emergency Situations Ministry personnel clear debris from the concert hall at the Crocus City Hall shopping center following the terrorist attack. Photo: Russian Emergency Situations Ministry
To date, more than 143 people have been killed and dozens more injured in the deadliest attack in Russia since the siege of the Beslan school in 2004. The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said 11 people, including four suspects, were detained in the Bryansk region, about 340 km southwest of Moscow. They were arrested while approaching the border to flee into Ukraine. Kyiv denies any involvement in the attack.
According to witnesses, men dressed in camouflage and combat vests containing dozens of spare magazines arrived at Crocus City Hall shopping mall at approximately 7:40 p.m. on March 22 (local time) in a pickup truck. They then jumped out of the back door of the truck and advanced toward the entrance armed with weapons.
They fired straight through the glass doors at the main entrance, indiscriminately shooting at anyone who passed by. Dozens of bodies lay motionless in pools of blood on the marble floor of the main entrance.
Some people smashed the locks on emergency exit doors and windows with their bare hands as gunfire echoed through the mall's lobby, located just 20 kilometers west of the Kremlin.
After firing at people at the entrance, the gunmen entered the concert hall just as hundreds of people were taking their seats to enjoy the sold-out concert.
"Some people thought the gunfire was some kind of special effects for the show," said a witness named Anastasia Rodionova. "Then I saw people fall down and the machine gun fire started."
"My self-preservation instinct kicked in, my eyes widened, where could I run?" Rodionova recounted, adding that some men banged on doors to escape into the street.
The loudspeakers began announcing that the concert would be canceled due to "technical reasons." Everyone was asked to leave the hall.
Verified video shows people scrambling for an escape route as gunfire erupts along with screams. The attackers move through the concert hall and then fire bursts of bullets at civilians.
A wounded woman being treated in Moscow said that when the gunmen attacked, she fell to the floor. She then crawled toward an exit to escape. "A girl next to me was killed," she said.
People place flowers to commemorate the victims of the shooting at Crocus City Hall. Photo: Reuters.
As gunmen ravaged the shopping mall, some people fled outside, while others huddled fearfully behind chestnut-colored chairs. One woman said she told her friend to lie down behind a chair as the gunfire grew closer.
According to Russian investigators, after opening fire, the terrorists set the building on fire. Several witnesses reported that the gunmen poured some kind of liquid onto seats and curtains in several places before setting them ablaze.
The fire quickly spread across an area of 12,900 square meters, creating a thick column of black smoke billowing into the night sky. Despite their clothes catching fire, some people tried to jump over the flames in hopes of escaping this "hellish" blaze.
The roof collapsed, and hundreds of firefighters battled for hours to control the blaze that engulfed the entire hall. All that remained were charred iron support beams and the steel frames of hundreds of seats.
The Baza Telegram channel, known for its close ties to Russian special services, reported that 14 bodies were found on the evacuation staircase and 28 bodies were found in a restroom. These included the bodies of an entire family, as well as the bodies of mothers embracing their dead children.
Hoai Phuong (according to Reuters)
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