As the death toll from a terrorist attack in Krasnogorsk city near Moscow mounted to 93, Russia announced on Saturday the arrest of 11 individuals, including four suspected.
On Friday night, gunmen sprayed civilian concertgoers with bullets at the Crocus City Hall west of Moscow, Reuters reported, citing a Kremlin statement.
Earlier, investigators put the death toll atmore than 60. With health officials saying about 145 people had been injured. Sixty of the wounded are said to be in critical condition.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was kept updated on the situationafter the mass shooting, which was described as the deadliest attack in Russia since 2004.
Following the terror strike, Russia beefed up security at airports, transport hubs and elsewhere in the capital. All major public events were scrapped across Russia.
The attackers stormed the Crocus City Hall music venue late on Friday, TASS news agency reported, citing an intelligence source.
Armed with assault rifles, the terroristswent on a shooting spree, followed by anexplosion, leaving the building ablaze, the report said.
All victims of the attack, claimed by ISIS, were evacuated to hospital by air ambulance helicopters. The terror group took responsibility in a brief statement from Amaq news agency.
The popular concert hall is housed in a sprawling complex, which is home to ashopping centre. In videos on social media, smoke could be seen billowing from the building.
According to RIA Novosti, the terroristsopened indiscriminate fire with automatic weapons and lobbed a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which ignited a fire
Moscow Governor Andrey Vorobyovsaid on Instagram: “There are still some pockets of fire, but the fire has been mostly eliminated.”
About a fortnight ago, the US embassy in Russia it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow”.
Meanwhile, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres condemned “in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack”.
The UN Security Council, French President Emmanuel Macron, IndianPrime Minister Narendra Modi, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Pakistan Premier Shahbaz Sharif, the Chinese president and other global leaders also denounced the assault.
As the attack began, panicked concertgoers took cover behind seat cushions and screamed.
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