by Guy Faulconbridge and Lidia Kelly
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia lowered flags at half-mast on Sunday for a day of national mourning, two days after the attack on a concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow, the deadliest attack in the country in twenty years.
President Vladimir Putin has pledged to track down and punish all those responsible for the attack, which left 137 dead, including three children, and more than 150 injured, according to the latest report released by the Russian investigative committee.
Eleven people were arrested, including the four armed attackers suspected of carrying out a shooting and setting fire to the Crocus City Hall concert hall on Friday evening.
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“I express my deep and sincere condolences to all those who lost loved ones,” the Russian president said in a speech to the nation on Saturday. “The whole country and all our people are in mourning with you.”
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred Friday evening, but Vladimir Putin has not publicly mentioned a relationship between the organization and the attackers. On the other hand, he mentioned Ukraine, assuring that the perpetrators of the attack had tried to escape to the country and that they had contacts on the “Ukrainian side” to cross the border.
Kyiv has denied any role in the attack, which Vladimir Putin also blamed on “international terrorism”.
Crowds left flowers at Crocus City Hall, where the gunmen stormed during a concert by rock band Piknik.
Throughout Moscow, billboards were installed showing a photo of a candle, the date of the attack and the words “We mourn.”
Friday’s attack was the deadliest on Russian territory since the Beslan school siege in 2004, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people hostage, including hundreds of children.
(Reporting Guy Faulconbridge and Reuters correspondents in Moscow, written by Lidia Kelly, Blandine Hénault for the French version, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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