At least 40 killed, 100 wounded in Moscow concert hall shooting

Gunmen bust into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, killing 40 people and wounding more than 100, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS.

Russian news reports said the assailants also used explosives, causing a massive blaze at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow on Friday.

A video posted on social media showed huge plumes of black smoke rising over the building in the Krasnogorsk suburb in the north of the Russian capital, which can hold several thousand people and has hosted top international artists.

Russian media reported that three to five people in combat fatigues had fired weapons into the crowd who were attending a concert of the rock band “Picnic”.

A journalist for the RIA Novosti news agency who was at the scene said the gunmen opened automatic fire and threw a grenade or incendiary bomb. Fire quickly spread through the concert hall.

“People who were in the hall were led on the ground to protect themselves from the shooting for 15 or 20 minutes,” the journalist was quoted as saying.

People started crawling out when it was safe, the journalist reported, adding that security forces were at the scene.

Video published online showed horrific scenes of some people begging for help from the roof of the concert hall as it burnt behind them.

Other video showed images of victims with gunshot wounds being treated in the street outside of the building.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the raid, which state authorities were investigating as an act of terrorism.

Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin said that the Moscow government would cancel all cultural, sporting, and other mass events for the weekend after the attack, as the Russian railroads and other major utilities said they were increasing security.

Sobyanin described the attack as a “great tragedy”. At least 70 ambulances had been dispatched to the site of the attack.

The Russian news agency 112, which specialises in crime reporting, put the death toll as high as 40 killed and more than 100 injured.

Earlier this month, western countries led by the United States had issued terror warnings and told their citizens not to join public gatherings in Russia.

On 8 March, the embassy wrote it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours.”