Concert Hall Attack Near Moscow: Death Toll Rises to 115
The death toll from Friday's attack on a concert hall near Moscow has risen to 115, as additional victims were discovered during the clearing of rubble, according to a statement from Russia's Investigative Committee on Saturday.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, emergency services found more bodies while clearing the debris. This brings the current death toll to 115," announced the Russian investigative authority.
An earlier report by the committee had put the death toll at 93, following an assault by armed individuals on the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a city about 20 kilometers northwest of the capital.
Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), has reported the arrest of "11 individuals, including 4 attackers" involved in the incident.
"The director of the Russian Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, has informed President Vladimir Putin about the arrest of 11 individuals, four of whom were directly involved in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall," stated the Kremlin's press service.
The suspects, who resisted arrest, were apprehended on a road in the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, as later detailed by the Investigative Committee.
According to Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov, about twenty bodies were found in the concert hall's ruins.
"An additional twenty bodies have been discovered under the debris. The clearance operations are expected to continue for several more days," the regional official shared on his Telegram channel.
Russian investigators have determined that the cause of death for many was gunshot wounds and asphyxiation from smoke inhalation due to the fire started by the assailants.
It is reported that the attackers used "automatic weapons" and set the building ablaze using "flammable liquid," investigators added.
This Friday's shooting revives memories of the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis in Doubrovka, where Chechen militants took 912 people hostage. That siege ended with a Russian special forces assault, resulting in the death of 130 hostages.