As of: March 25, 2024, 2:17 p.m
By: Babett Gumbrecht
Comments
Press
Split
Victims of the attack in Moscow report: Emergency exits were locked.
Possibly more deaths from smoke than from gunfire.
What the organizer says about it.
Moscow - Three days after the murderous attack (March 22) in Russia's capital Moscow, the results are shocking: over 130 dead and 180 seriously injured.
Now there are more serious allegations against the organizer, because the high number of victims could also be due to locked emergency exits.
According to
The Telegraph
, eyewitnesses reported that doors at the Crocus City Hall concert hall could not be opened during the shooting and many victims died of smoke inhalation from the fire that broke out.
Eyewitnesses report: Emergency exits could not be opened
Russian media also report this.
28 bodies alone were found in a toilet and 14 more in the stairwell of an emergency exit.
The suspicions are confirmed by reports from included eyewitnesses.
A video recorded by a survivor on his cell phone also shows people desperately shaking the handles of the closed emergency exits as they try to escape.
The burnt down “Crocus City Hall” event center after the attack on Friday.
Emergency services are still on site.
© Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP/dpa
In addition, the Telegram channel “Baza”, which is linked to the Russian security service, reported that the bodies were piled up next to the emergency exits, possibly blocking the doors.
In an interview with the
Moskovsky Komsomolets
newspaper , one survivor said he was forced to run through the main entrance to the concert hall where the gunmen began their attack because the emergency exits would not open.
“We tried the fire escape but it was locked.
People were climbing the ladder, climbing down the ladder, everything closed,” he said.
Aras Agalarov, the owner of Crocus City Hall, denies that the emergency exits were locked.
In addition, several survivors of the attack reported that they escaped through emergency exits.
The statements are difficult to verify.
Background: What happened in the concert hall?
The attack occurred on Friday in the northwest of the capital Moscow.
Four suspected main perpetrators stormed a concert hall in the evening with military equipment including assault rifles.
They fired into the crowds.
The terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack in several embassies shortly after the horrific act.
My news
Unusual event: 25,000 people wait in St. Peter's Square - Pope foregoes reading sermons
On Princess Victoria's name day: Prince Oscar steals the show
Seriously injured ski jumping ace with devastating bedside diagnosis
The wave of bankruptcies continues: cult beverage manufacturer is insolvent
Skoda's novelty with a combustion engine impresses fans - read “It's sustainable”.
Motorcyclist from Munich has to return on foot - and takes out anger on construction yard employees
Western security authorities and experts believe the confession is credible and suspect the IS offshoot Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK) was behind the attack.
Meanwhile, Russian propaganda under Vladimir Putin is trying to establish a connection with Ukraine.
The four suspected main perpetrators were arrested on Saturday near Bryansk, near the border with Ukraine and Belarus.
On Sunday evening they were brought before court in Moscow and taken into custody.
The men's faces showed injuries indicating signs of suspected torture, reports the German Press Agency (dpa).
In addition to the question of guilt, the blocked emergency exits are now also a concern for the Russian population.
Sensitive topic in Russia: Similar incident in Siberia in 2018
But the issue of blocked or locked doors is a sensitive one in Russia.
In 2018, more than 60 people died in a fire in a shopping center in Siberia because the alarms were turned off and the emergency exits were locked,
The Telegraph
reports .
The fact is: The attack is the deadliest on Russian soil in years.
Some families still don't know if relatives who attended Friday's event are still alive.
The Moscow Health Ministry said on Sunday that it had begun identifying the bodies of those killed using DNA tests.
But that takes at least two weeks.
(bg/dpa)