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Moscow Attack Death Toll Hits 140 As Search For Bodies Ends
Memorial for the Crocus City Hall attack at an eternal flame in Volgograd - 23 March 2024 (Volgoduma.ru)
Updated March 27, 2024
By RFE/RL's Russian Service
The death toll from the March 22 Moscow concert hall attack has climbed to 140, Russia announced on March 27, as reports say authorities have stopped searching for new bodies.
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on the same day that four of the 76 people in hospital were in critical condition.
A day earlier, the Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies, and Disaster Relief finished clearing the rubble from the concert hall as reports said the search for bodies had ceased.
Four armed men attacked the Crocus City Hall concert complex, spraying bullets and slashing people as well as using incendiary weapons to set the venue on fire.
A Russian court charged four Tajik citizens on March 25 with committing an act of terrorism. Another four have been accused of helping the attackers.
Reports say people from Central Asia who live in Russia are under more pressure and face anti-migrant sentiment following the attack. This week, several migrant workers from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were detained and questioned in Moscow for hours.
The Tajik government, which is close to the Kremlin, has interrogated the relatives of the four men accused of carrying out the attack.
Uzbekistan has advised its citizens in Russia to comply with the heightened security measures and always carry their identification documents and labor permits.
The government in Kyrgyzstan has urged against travelling to Russia due to fears that its citizens will be harassed, while the authorities in Turkmenistan are looking to bring home Turkmen national studying in Russia.
The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group. While IS has not explicitly credited any of its affiliates, Western intelligence and experts blame Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) for the incident.
Top Russian officials insist that Ukraine and the West were involved in the attack. Kyiv has rejected the allegation, while the United States says it warned Moscow of an imminent attack two weeks before the incident.
Copyright © Mar 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 conncwsecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. http://www.rferl.org
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