At Least 130 Dead in Moscow Hall Attack, Suspects Detained

March 23rd, 7:22 AM EDT

Updated:

March 23rd, 9:47 AM EDT

By NEWSnet Digital Team

Emergency services vehicles outside Crocus City Hall concert hall following a shooting in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, March 22, 2024.

STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

MOSCOW (NEWSnet/AP) — Russia President Vladimir Putin said authorities have detained 11 people in connection with an attack at Crocus City Concert Hall in Moscow.

At least 130 people are confirmed dead.

In an address to the nation, Putin called it “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said all four people who were directly involved are in custody. He suggested they had been trying to cross the border into Ukraine, which has denied any involvement.

Putin said Saturday that additional security measures have been imposed and declared March 24 a day of national mourning.

Islamic State claimed responsibility. A U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press U.S. agencies had confirmed the group is responsible for the attack.

The four suspects were stopped in the Bryansk region of western Russia near the Ukraine border, Russia's Investigative Committee said. They planned to cross the border into Ukraine and have contacts there, state news agency Tass said, citing Russia's FSB. The head of the FSB briefed President Vladimir Putin on the arrests on Saturday, according to Tass.

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