The screenshot of the spectators dodging the bullets after the gunmen opened fire. Reuters image
Several camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire at a popular concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow on Friday night, killing at least 40 people and wounding more than 100, Russia’s top security agency said, which would make it the deadliest attack in the capital region in years.
A branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility, and U.S. officials confirmed the claim shortly afterwards. The United States collected intelligence in March that Islamic State-Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, the branch of the group based in Afghanistan, had been planning an attack on Moscow, according to officials.
As gunshots boomed through the building containing the concert hall, one of the largest and most popular music venues in the Moscow area, fire erupted in the upper floors of the structure, and the blaze intensified after an explosion, the news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Multiple videos posted on social media and verified by The New York Times show several people entering the venue, Crocus City Hall — a sprawling shopping and entertainment complex in suburban Krasnogorsk, northwest of Moscow — and firing rifles. Other videos show people running past bloodied victims lying on the floor or screaming at the sound of gunshots, while photos show bodies lined up outside the building.
The shooting occurred minutes before a sold-out performance by the veteran rock band Piknik was scheduled to start. The concert hall has 6,200 seats, according to its website.
The report said a woman who gave her name only as Marina said in a text message that she was standing in line for the concert outside, in the cold, about 8 p.m. when people without overcoats started running out of the building, saying they had heard shots.
“As soon as I heard automatic rifle shots I started running, too,” she said.
Smoke rises above the Crocus City Hall concert venue . Photo: Reuters
At least 115 people have been hospitalized from the attack on the Moscow concert hall, five of them children, according to the Russian minister of health, Mikhail Murashko. Another 30 were treated and released.
The injured include 60 adult patients in serious condition, the minister said.
Museums in Moscow will be closed on Saturday and Sunday after the deadly attack at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, the news agency TASS reported.
俄羅斯官員稱，武裝分子在莫斯科音樂廳開槍，造成 40 人死亡
俄羅斯最高安全機構表示，週五晚上，幾名身穿迷彩服的槍手在莫斯科郊區一個受歡迎的音樂會場地開槍，造成至少40 人死亡、100 多人受傷，這將使其成為首都地區最致命的襲擊事件。年。
伊斯蘭國的一個分支聲稱對此事負責，美國官員不久後也證實了這項說法。 據官員稱，美國 3 月收集到的情報顯示，伊斯蘭國呼羅珊組織（簡稱 ISIS-K）是該組織駐阿富汗的分支，一直在計劃對莫斯科發動攻擊。
根據俄新社報道，音樂廳是莫斯科地區最大、最受歡迎的音樂場所之一，當槍聲在音樂廳所在的建築中響起時，建築物的高層起火，爆炸後火勢加劇。
社群媒體上發布並經《紐約時報》證實的多段影片顯示，幾人進入會場克洛庫斯市政廳（莫斯科西北部克拉斯諾戈爾斯克郊區的一個龐大的購物和娛樂中心）並開槍。 其他影片顯示，人們跑過躺在地板上、血跡斑斑的受害者身邊，或聽到槍聲尖叫，而照片顯示，屍體在大樓外排成一排。
槍擊事件發生在老牌搖滾樂團皮克尼克 (Piknik) 的演出預定開始前幾分鐘，演出門票已售罄。 據音樂廳網站稱，該音樂廳有 6,200 個座位。
一位只透露姓名的女士在簡訊中表示，晚上 8 點左右，她在寒冷的天氣裡在外面排隊等待音樂會。 當沒有穿大衣的人開始跑出大樓，說他們聽到槍聲時。
「當我聽到自動步槍射擊時，我也開始逃跑，」她說。
俄羅斯衛生部長米哈伊爾·穆拉什科 (Mikhail Murashko) 表示，莫斯科音樂廳襲擊事件已造成至少 115 人住院，其中 5 名兒童。 另有 30 人接受治療並出院。
部長說，傷者包括 60 名成年患者，傷勢嚴重。
據塔斯社報道，克拉斯諾戈爾斯克克羅庫斯市政廳發生致命襲擊後，莫斯科的博物館將於週六和週日關閉。
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