Update
IS claims responsibility
Death toll from terrorist attack in Moscow rises to 115
March 23, 2024, 9:28 a.m
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According to new information, more than 100 people were killed in the attack on a concert hall in Moscow, including three children. The investigative committee expects that the number of victims will increase. Meanwhile, the federal government condemns the “cowardly, inhumane terror.”
The number of deaths in the attack on the concert hall near Moscow has risen to at least 115, according to Russia’s State Investigative Committee. “Emergency services found additional bodies while clearing the rubble,” said the Investigative Committee, which is responsible for investigating serious crimes in Russia. The people were killed by gunfire and by inhaling smoke after a fire broke out in the concert hall.
The number is expected to continue to rise. According to Russian information, three children were among the people killed in the attack at a concert hall near Moscow. This is reported by the RIA news agency, citing the Ministry of Health.
According to the Kremlin, eleven people were arrested after the deadly attack on a concert hall in Moscow. The head of the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, informed President Vladimir Putin about the “arrest of eleven people, including all four terrorists who were directly involved in carrying out the attack,” Russian news agencies quoted a Kremlin statement as saying. According to the Basa news portal, the suspects are said to be Tajiks.
The jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack on the concert hall in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk on Friday evening. It is the most serious attack in Moscow in at least a decade.
Federal government condemns “cowardly, inhumane terror”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply condemned the deadly attack on a concert hall in Russia. “We condemn the terrible terrorist attack on innocent concert-goers in Moscow,” he wrote on the Internet service X. “Our thoughts are with the relatives of the victims and all those injured.”
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke of a “cowardly, inhumane terror” that would be condemned “everywhere.” “Innocent people who just wanted to go to a rock concert were murdered in cold blood,” she also wrote on X. Her condolences go out to the people of Russia.
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck also expressed his condolences and spoke of “terrible news from Moscow.” “My condolences go out to the victims and their families who are now grieving and fearing for the injured,” he said in a press release distributed by the Federal Ministry of Economics. It is now important to “clarify the background quickly.”
Green Party European politician Anton Hofreiter warned against linking Ukraine to the attack. “According to experts, the IS letter of confession is genuine and everything points to Islamist terrorists,” he told the Funke newspapers. “It is now important to investigate the crime and not believe the false reports that were specifically spread towards Ukraine.”