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Moscow concert hall attack death toll rises to 133. Putin called it ‘barbaric terrorist act’

The death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to 133, Russia’s top state investigative agency said Saturday. The update from the Investigative Committee comes as authorities are combing the charrred wreckage of the Crocus City Hall on Moscow’s western edge for more victims. Officials previously put the death toll from Friday’s raid at 115. The attack also left many wounded. In an address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday it is “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said all four people who were directly involved had been taken into custody. He suggested they had been trying to cross the border into Ukraine which, he said, tried to create a “window” to help them escape.

Quick Read

  • Death toll in Moscow concert hall attack rises to 133, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee.
  • Islamic State’s Afghanistan branch claims responsibility; U.S. confirms IS involvement.
  • Russian President Putin announces detention of 11 individuals related to the attack, including four directly involved.
  • Putin suggests attackers aimed to escape to Ukraine, which denies involvement and accuses Russia of stoking war fervor.
  • Attack described as Russia’s deadliest in years, occurring after Putin’s electoral victory and amid ongoing Ukraine conflict.
  • Russian lawmakers and Ukrainian officials exchange accusations, with Ukraine denying use of terrorist methods.
  • Putin declares March 24 a day of national mourning and increases national security measures.
  • Emergency services continue to work at the Crocus City Hall site, with the public responding with blood donations.
  • International reactions include condemnation from the U.N. and global messages of support for the victims.

The Associated Press has the story:

Moscow concert hall attack death toll rises to 133. Putin called it ‘barbaric terrorist act’

Newslooks- MOSCOW (AP) —

The death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to 133, Russia’s top state investigative agency said Saturday. The update from the Investigative Committee comes as authorities are combing the charrred wreckage of the Crocus City Hall on Moscow’s western edge for more victims. Officials previously put the death toll from Friday’s raid at 115. The attack also left many wounded.

In this grab taken from video released by Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, an investigators from the Investigative Committee of Russia examines the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 133. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin.(Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)

The Islamic State group’s Afghanistan branch claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media. A U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press that U.S. agencies had confirmed that the group was responsible for the attack.

In this grab taken from video released by the Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, Investigators from the Investigative Committee of Russia examine the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 130. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin. (Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)

In an address to the nation on Saturday, Russian President said authorities had detained 11 people, including four who took part in the attack. He also suggested they had been trying to cross the border into Ukraine which, he said, tried to create a “window” to help them escape.

In this photo released by the Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 23, 2024, Russian Emergency Ministry rescuers work inside the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Over 90 people were killed authorities said. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)

Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement and accused Moscow of using the attack to try to stoke fervor in its war effort.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that authorities have detained 11 people in the attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 115 people and left the sprawling venue a smoldering ruin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on the photo in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that authorities have detained 11 people in the attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 115 people and left the sprawling venue a smoldering ruin. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In an address to the nation, Putin called it “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said all four people who were directly involved had been taken into custody. He suggested they had been trying to cross the border into Ukraine which, he said, tried to create a “window” to help them escape.

Police officers secure an area near the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Assailants burst into a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing and injuring multiple people and setting fire to the venue in a brazen attack just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the attack. Putin said Saturday that additional security measures have been imposed throughout the country and declared March 24 a day of national mourning.

In this photo taken from video released by the Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, firefighter work in the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 130. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin. (Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)

The Islamic State group’s Afghanistan branch claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media. A U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press that U.S. agencies had confirmed that the group was responsible for the attack.

In this grab taken from video released by the Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, a view of the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 130. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin.(Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)

The attack, which was the deadliest in Russia in years, came just days after Putin cemented his grip on power in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide and as the country’s war in Ukraine dragged into a third year.

In this grab taken from video released by the Investigative Committee of Russia on Saturday, March 23, 2024, a view of the burned concert hall after an attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. Russia’s top state investigative agency says the death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to over 130. The attack Friday on Crocus City Hall, a sprawling mall and concert venue on Moscow’s western edge, also left many wounded and left the building a smoldering ruin.(Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)

Some Russian lawmakers pointed the finger at Ukraine immediately after the attack. But Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied any involvement.

“Ukraine has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Everything in this war will be decided only on the battlefield.”

Bodies of victims are loaded into vehicles at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo)

Ukraine’s foreign ministry also denied that the country had any involvement and accused Moscow of using the attack to try to stoke fervor for its war efforts.

A woman reacts as she comes to place flowers at the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

“We consider such accusations to be a planned provocation by the Kremlin to further fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria in Russian society, create conditions for increased mobilization of Russian citizens to participate in the criminal aggression against our country and discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community,” a ministry said in a statement.

Images shared by Russian state media Saturday showed a fleet of emergency vehicles still gathered outside the ruins of Crocus City Hall, which had a maximum capacity of more than 6,000 people.

Bodies of victims are loaded into vehicles at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 60 people have been killed and over 100 injured by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo)

Videos posted online showed gunmen in the venue shooting civilians at point-blank range. Russian news reports cited authorities and witnesses as saying the attackers threw explosive devices that started the fire. The roof of the theater, where crowds had gathered for a performance by the Russian rock band Picnic, collapsed early Saturday as firefighters spent hours fighting the blaze.

A woman reacts as she place flowers by the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

In a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency, the IS’s Afghanistan affiliate said it had attacked a large gathering of “Christians” in Krasnogorsk. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the claim.

A woman places flowers by the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

A U.S. intelligence official told the AP that American intelligence agencies had gathered information in recent weeks that the IS branch was planning an attack in Moscow, and that U.S. officials had privately shared the intelligence earlier this month with Russian officials.

A child places a toy at the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

The official was briefed on the matter but was not authorized to publicly discuss the intelligence information and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Messages of outrage, shock and support for the victims and their families have streamed in from around the world.

A view of the Crocus City Hall burned after an attack is seen on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024. Assailants burst into a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing and injuring multiple people and setting fire to the venue in a brazen attack just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

On Friday, the U.N. Security Council condemned “the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack” and underlined the need for the perpetrators to be held accountable. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the terrorist attack “in the strongest possible terms,” his spokesman said.

Meanwhile hundreds of people stood in line on Saturday in Moscow to donate blood and plasma, Russia’s health ministry said.

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

Putin, who extended his grip on Russia for another six years in this week’s presidential vote after a sweeping crackdown on dissent, had publicly denounced the Western warnings of a potential terrorist attack as an attempt to intimidate Russians. “All that resembles open blackmail and an attempt to frighten and destabilize our society,” he said earlier this week.

A boy places flowers at the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 23, 2024, following an attack Friday, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Russian officials say more than 90 people have been killed by assailants who burst into a concert hall and sprayed the crowd with gunfire. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian vacation-goers returning from Egypt. The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in the past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.

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