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TerrorismRussian Federation

Moscow concert hall attack deaths rise to 140

March 27, 2024

The increase in the death toll comes as scores of other people are reportedly missing. The Russian government is on high alert following the attack, which was claimed by the "Islamic State" Khorasan group.

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People bring flowers to a makeshift memorial outside the Crocus City Hall
The attack was carried out by four shooters using Kalashnikov automatic weapons, investigators sayImage: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS/dpa/picture alliance

Russia's Health Ministry said the death toll from last week's Moscow concert hall attack rose to 140 on Wednesday after another victim died in the hospital.

The massacre at Crocus City Hall on Friday night was the deadliest terrorist attack on Russian soil in almost two decades.

What we know about the victims

"Unfortunately, one of the injured, who was in an extremely serious condition, died," Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency, referring to the latest fatality. "The doctors did everything possible."

Murashko added that in hospitals in Moscow and the Moscow region "there are still 80 injured people, including six minors." Another 205 people have sought outpatient treatment, he said.

Meanwhile, the Russian news outlet Baza said an additional 95 people appear in lists of possibly missing people based on appeals by relatives.

"These lists include people with whom relatives have not been able to get in touch since the terrorist attack, but who are not on the lists of wounded and dead," Baza said. "Some of these people died, but have not yet been identified."

What we know about the attack

Investigators say four shooters using Kalashnikov automatic weapons carried out the attack, with more than 500 rounds of ammunition found at the scene. The deaths were gunshot wounds and asphyxiation due to smoke from the fire caused by the shooting.

Who are ISIS-K, the group that hit Russia?

The shooting happened just before the Soviet-era rock band Picnic was set to take to the stage before a full house of some 6,200 people.

An offshoot of the so-called "Islamic State" militant group, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), has claimed responsibility for the attack.  

Four suspects alleged to have carried out the shootings appeared in court on Sunday facing terrorism charges. They showed signs of having received heavy beatings and were placed in pre-trial custody.

Russian officials say the four were detained in the region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine and Belarus. Seven other suspects have also been detained in connection with the attack. 

rc/wd (Reuters, AP, dpa)