Moscow concert hall death toll reaches 140
A person seriously hurt in the terrorist attack near Moscow last Friday has died from their injuries, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has announced. Doctors did everything they could to save the patient’s life, he told journalists on Wednesday.
An earlier statement by the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, put the death toll in the gun and arson attack at 139.
A group of terrorists, described as 'radical Islamist' by Russian President Vladimir Putin, stormed a large music venue just outside of Moscow on Friday. They went on a gun rampage, killing people on sight as they moved towards the building's main hall, eventually setting it on fire.
Russian officials have suggested that the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall may have been organized by Ukrainian special services who used the Islamists as proxies. The gunmen left the venue after about 15 minutes and rushed to a Russian region that borders Ukraine, where they were arrested on Saturday, following a manhunt.
Over a hundred survivors were taken to the hospital in the wake of the attack. As of Wednesday morning, 83 were listed by the health officials as undergoing treatment, and 40 have been released.
