"They stumbled upon corpses, prayed, crawled on." Stories of eyewitnesses of the terrorist attack in Crocus

The number of those killed as a result of the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall near Moscow, according to the latest data from the Investigative Committee of Russia, reaches 133 people. Telegram channels report that the dead can be up to 150 people. The suspects are detained. The editors of the North. Realii talked with eyewitnesses of the attack and the fire safety expert about the causes of such a large -scale fire and its extinguishing technique. And she found out from a military expert why the version of the Russian authorities about the "Ukrainian trace" is unlikely.

On Friday evening, March 22, several people in camouflage form opened shooting from machine guns in the concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow (in administrative terms it is a near Moscow Krasnogorsk). Then an explosion occurred and a strong fire began, which was extinguished for almost a day. 18 minutes a group of militants was in the crocus building.

Shot telegram channel leads an approximate chronology of events:

- At 19:55, the white “Renault Simbol” stops in front of the entrance to Crocus, a group of people with automatic machines and cans pops up from it, they run to the building, shoot at people.

- By 20:03, they, killing everyone in their path, reached the auditorium, where a concert of the Picnic group was supposed to begin. They shot many in the back. The gang poured fuel and set it on fire. The audience, running away, saw that the shooters had plastic containers with liquid.

- Those who survived run out of the building through the entrance, service exits, breaking the glass. Many are suffocating in caustic smoke.

- At about 20:13 White "Renault Simbol" with four participants in the raid on Crocus leaves.

According to the official version, the militants tried to hide, moving along the M-3 Ukraine highway. On the 291st kilometer at 23:07, the car got into the chambers of the chambers for speeding. After that, the pursuit began for the car. It was possible to stop him only after shooting at the wheels.

"Many were shot in a bar during eating, someone in chairs"

-We arrived with my girlfriend in recovery, packed at 19:30 on the street near Crocus City Hall-the lines stood in five rows, moved slowly, because people not only passed the framework of metal detectors, but also opened the bags. We went through the inspection and went down to the wardrobe to the floor below the first, they wanted to go a bite, but, thank God, they decided to hurry, not miss the beginning. Then we climbed through these bars and saw the dead people who were killed right during the meal. Horror! But then, at eight, we were more outraged that again the delay, they would never begin and had to eat, we were so hungry. It all began - at first the shots from the entrance, then people began to jump up and rushed to the stage, because it seemed safer there, ”says Igor (now he lives in Moscow, where he moved from the Irkutsk region several years ago). -We also ran, around the smoke from some checkers-the terrorists have already entered the hall and shot at the heads of the seated ones. I don’t remember how miraculously we slipped back to the exit, it was lucky that they were far from them. I remember that at first we decided to hide in the toilet - we open, there people lie, we are in a bar - there are also corpses. Then the fire broke out and it was stupidly incomprehensible where to run, where the way out, it was impossible to consider the green arrows, we clung to the man who knew Crocus well, he took it off. They got into the car and rushed from there, for some reason there was an idea-now the police will run, we must get out. Although why, we are not terrorists?! Do not care about the clothes that remained in the wardrobe rushed home. Now I just don’t go out anywhere and do not plan the next week. At work, they reacted with understanding, gave a vacation.

Another interlocutor also begins the conversation with the fact that she was “big lucky” - they were late and at the time of the first shots were still in the wardrobe.

- We just climbed the first and saw a panic around - the terrorists were already in the hall, as I understand it. At first, the crowd carried me to the side of my husband, then I stumbled, fell, saw that it was someone’s body, yelled, crawled, prayed and crawled on the floor, tried to find her husband, was already afraid to get up, it seemed that they would return now and began to shoot here again. My husband found me first and dragged me to the toilets, there was already a group of people. Then I found out that we were lucky: they shot part of the hiding in the toilets. The fire spread sharply, there was nothing to breathe, and we decided that we had to run out into the street. They crawled to the windows that were there at full height, caught their breath, and men began to beat the glass. In general, we got out into the street on broken glasses, undressed, as they got, I don’t remember for some reason, for some reason did not go to the subway. Either they were frightened that they would begin to blow up there, or it was closed. They woke up at home, everything is in the blood - it is not clear, in his own or a stranger, ”says Oksana from Moscow. - I am now telling and do not believe that it all happened to me. If it weren’t for the husband who sits nearby and tells, I would not even remember half. This is some kind of nightmare, now I will not go anywhere at all. I am ready to quit, just not to leave the house. I do not believe anyone now. There are so many versions on the network who did it - their own, not their own, Islamists, Ukrainians, my head is bursting. I myself saw about a dozen dead, and there are more than a hundred of them! We just live in a horror film.

Another interlocutor, also from Moscow, says that apathy covered her after an experienced.

- The state of emptiness, there is no understanding of how to move further and in what direction in life. Scary, what will happen next?! And in general, how to live?! Tears, memories are periodically rolling ..., says Elena (the name was changed at her request). - We came to the concert a little in advance, 10 minutes before the start. There was a small smoke in the hall. I shot a video of the hall, took a photo and shared VKontakte, we were on the balcony in the 14th row, almost next to the aisle.

A couple of minutes before the start of the show, they heard claps, at first my spouse and I thought that this, perhaps, was called for a concert, the beginning?! But everything changed sharply when they began to scream that the shots. Then they began abruptly below, louder and closer, people ran to the stage and back, panic began. We lay between the rows and lay, literally a minute, maybe two listening to the queues of shots. When they heard screams that they were rising, they decided that they had to get out, and at their own peril and risk ran through the second floor, exit in the middle.

There was blood on the floor, clothes were lying. They began to go down the stairs, which was right away on the left ... There was no one from the security on the second floor, I didn’t see employees either, only on the ground floor there are two people in black costumes who sent the crowd through the room where there was no light.

On the floor lay the wounded, people ran, knocking each other. There was vanity and panic on the street, screams and tantrums of people. There was no light.

We got out of that area for about two hours. During the calls of Yandex. Taxi, the money was written off by automatic and stood as if the trip was already made. The Lrue Merlin’s store fled to the store in fear that they could start shooting at the crowd of cars. Along the way, they offered help to people who needed to get out, they were ready to bring to the metro or where they would say to a safer place.

Arriving home, hugged a 11-month-old son.

Today I decided to call the Red Cross help service, a pleasant specialist contacted me. Having spoke of his fears and what happened, it became a little easier, but the fear of looking out the windows, the fear of crowded places and people of other nationalities was, is and will definitely be.

Only now you begin to understand: why was there not at all in the district of armed employees? There was only one ambulance! - says Elena.

"They fled, and they shot them at the exit!"

“We were with my husband together,” recalls Eugene from Moscow. -We came 10-15 minutes before the start, our places were in the amphitheater-the 5th row, places 43, 44, this is the last row, followed by a vip-flat. We were already sitting in places when a girl with a lifted sweater entered the hall, she held on to her back and leaned, people asked what happened? She replied that they were shooting there. We got up from places and began to move to the right along the row, further from the exit. The shots were louder and louder, we fell to the floor between the rows, but I quickly realized that everything was in sight and not to hide, we, not agreeing with my husband, returned to our places, that is, back, closer to the entrance, from where the terrorists came from, and climbed the VIP-pods and fell between the seats, between the 2nd and the 3rd nearby. And they lay there while there was a shelling. I don’t know, for about 10 minutes for sure, then the shots stopped and the smoke fell, we closed their mouths with clothes, my husband said: "We ran, burn."

We moved back to the hall in the same way as we climbed. And they ran to the exit, there was already a fire at the exit, we ran through the fire, the doors were closed, my husband pushed with force, they opened, we left the hall, from the exit that the escalators, and ran to the exit, had blood on the floor, the bodies lay.

We ran out to the parking lot, there were wounded, we slowly made our way between the cars to our car, got, got down and drove away, captured a family with two children along the way, they fled along the road. They brought them and went home.

Already at home, my husband asked if I saw three people in the "unloading" (fasting vest) in the lobby. I did not look around, but now we understand that, most likely, they were [the attackers], since the security forces did not come for sure then. And, apparently, they left the hall because of the fire and therefore stood in the lobby.

But we did not stop - we just ran ahead.

It was very, very scary, as in a terrible dream, life did not flip in front of my eyes, I just lay and waited for a bullet. A minute later they would have hidden or gathered a minute later - we would not have been saved already, ”says Eugene.

Another resident of Moscow, Olga, heard not only shots, grenades and smoke bombs, but also saw how the arrangements were doused with something people and set fire to them.

-We arrived at the concert with my husband at 19 o’clock and somewhere at 19: 30–19: 40 were already sitting in the hall. Shooting began after the second call. We had tickets to the underwear. At first there was a cotton somewhere behind the scenes and shots in the lobby began. We looked at each other with my husband, because we did not understand what it was. And at that moment, people fell down from the balcony. Screams began: "Terrorists, kill!" - recalls Olga. - Children, let's call them like that, because on passes in the hall there were definitely students of the initial courses, began to drive everyone into the hall.

We realized that on the ground floor people with weapons entered the stalls. They began to knock people in a heap, doused them with something and set fire to them. Someone tried to escape through the stage, but they were shot. Those who ran out the first in the lobby and began to go down the stairs, they were already waiting there and also shot them. We lay between the chairs and waited.

They threw grenades, there were two explosions and automatic lines. It was not clear where to move, because they shot downstairs, but unclear - at the top or below.

When we already ran out into the corridor, it was not clear where to run. Where there were “evacuation” outputs, the doors are closed. Nobody met anyone anywhere, did not escape. “Crocus” was absolutely empty, it feels like all employees, security-they all evaporated somewhere. There was absolutely no one. Everyone saved himself.

Those who were inside were actually heroes, because when they saw that someone was shocked or fell and could not go, picked up and helped to get out so that they would not trample anyone. There were a lot of people with disabilities, Dtspshnikov, a lot of children, and all the men grabbed them in an armful and pulled them out. We must pay tribute to them.

A lot of people remained in the toilets, because it was not clear where they shot, and it seemed that it was nearby. Therefore, people there were locked and hidden.

We went out almost the last, on our own. Black smoke was already falling, and those who stayed there most likely died. No fire system worked, there was no signal that the fire hazard. We perfectly understand that if they had any licenses, then they were all paid, because the evacuation system did not work at all.

I saw those who shot from a height, and it is difficult for me to accurately describe the appearance of these people. I remember that they were high, medium physique. In my opinion, they had some kind of vegetation on their face, they were in baseball caps or something like that on their heads. My husband says that they acted very professionally: one shot, the other reloaded, they replaced each other and acted like people with good training.

We went out through the neighboring building in Crocus, and a fire rose before our eyes, something like an ambulance loomed in the distance. We saw the guard, approached them, said that they were shooting there and people need help. They replied: "What can we? We are just security, and we have nothing but a walkie -talkie."

The worst thing is that we were sure that we were protected and this cannot be. But it turned out - the opposite. It turns out that you can’t be sure that we are safe, ”says Olga.

The corpses were piled in a heap

Artem Sigaev (the surname was changed at his request) returned to Russia a week before the concert of the Picnic group in Crocus. Tickets were bought by a friend.

- We came about five minutes before the start of the concert, handed over their things to the wardrobe and already climbed the escalator to the second floor. I still heard strange loud sounds on the stairs to the escalator and thought that these were some metal structures to fall on the floor. I began to shoot when I heard shots, but then, along with everyone, I ran into the auditorium. There were already a lot of people there. I realized that this is a trap. Ten seconds passed, two militants ran down, and one of them began to shoot from the machine gun at the people who were sitting and lying there, and the second threw something on the wall, apparently some kind of lighter. And the wall flashed. Both of them were dressed in a camouflage of a military model. And I raised my head and looked after them from behind the chair. Twenty to thirty seconds, when he finished a series of shooting, the people ran. And I also rushed around the armchairs and jumped out in the lobby.

The militants, he said, were at a decent distance, the faces of the shooting were closed by balaclavs. Artem noticed that they were of medium physique and thought that these were some acting military.

-After everyone rushed to go out in the lobby, we began to run back and forth along the fire ladder, up and down. People were in a panic. Someone rushed to the toilets, but I realized that it was also a trap, because there will be either smoke or militants can go there and shoot. Therefore, I was looking for a way out and found. Thanks to the Crocus workers who stood and waved their hands, pointing to the exit. They were absolutely calm. And I realized where to run. In total, from the beginning of the joke, I spent no more than five minutes there.

People who seeking out the way out behaved quite calmly. No one jumped on each other on their heads and did not jump on the backs. They reassured each other and said that there was no need to create a panic.

I did not see corpses, because I ran out of the spare entrance, where the terrorists did not get. They entered the main entrance. My comrade, who spent twenty minutes there, later went through the main entrance and said that there were a lot of corpses, they were simply piled in a heap. The arrows did not talk among themselves, they did everything silently.

In my first seconds of the Association with the Nord-Ost, I immediately arose. After all, we went without clothes in sweatshirts simply and met in his apartment. My pressure jumped up, and he drank vodka. We sat and watched the notes made and wrote to friends. I probably fell asleep at four in the morning only, and before that I sat and watched some entertaining vidosiki. Just in order to somehow get distracted and forget about everything about it.

What did I feel? It was a mixture of panic, horror and some absolute hopelessness. - says Arthur.

"Fires with such an area never quickly extinguished"

According to preliminary data, firearms and poisoning of combustion products became the causes of the death of people. The Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov admitted that there may be much more victims - rescuers continue to analyze the rubble at the site of the fire, which almost completely destroyed the concert hall.

The FSB of Russia announced 11 detainees in the terrorist attack, including four suspects in direct involvement in it. The detention occurred in the Bryansk region.

Telegram channels publish videos of detention and interrogation of the suspects, one of them states that some “curators” paid him for the murder of people. The authenticity and circumstances of the manufacture of such videos cannot be promptly confirmed, they are distributed mainly by proceeding telegram channels. The video is distributed in them, as one of the detainees during the interrogation is cut off the ear.

Investigators found that the criminals used a flammable fluid for arson of the premises where the audience were, including the wounded. None of the representatives of the owners and the Crocus administration still made any statements about why the fire alarm did not work. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that Crocus City Hall was checked by the fire safety in full.

The fire safety expert on the basis of anonymity says that for the fire of such a force there should have been arson in several different places of the building.

- The alarm did not work, because in reality there was probably no verification. Bribes and corruption. Firefighters did not let the first time to exclude the risks of their death from terrorists. The precious time was lost to clean the numerous premises of the concert hall, ”says expert Sergei M. (The name was changed at his request). - I think that such a building caught fire so quickly and strongly, you need to set fire to in several places. The temperature begins to grow in every focus of fire after the first 3-5 minutes, intensifying every 15 seconds.

As I understand it, they had canists and bottles with incendiary mixture, they scattered them. In such conditions, everything that was inside the Crocus was doomed - even metal structures would melt from a temperature of several thousand degrees, and the main task of the firefighters was the salvation of neighboring buildings.

Even one breath with such a fire may be enough to lose consciousness. That is, the first thing in this situation is to lie down and crawl towards the exit, so as not to be poisoned.

"Categorically does not match"

A number of Western media associated the terrorist attack with the Islamic State group.

The SITE group, which tracks the activity of terrorist structures, discovered a message from the AMAQ agency close to the Islamic State, from which it follows that the grouping takes responsibility for the massacre in Crocus and calls it the most brutal attack in recent years. The attack by war with countries that supposedly opposed Islam is explained.

Russian President Putin made a statement almost 19 hours after the attack. He declared on March 24 the day of national mourning in Russia. He called the incident "bloody terrorist attack" and "organized mass murder of people."

Putin claims that the four detained performers of the attack, trying to hide, supposedly moved towards Ukraine. The same version was previously distributed by the press service of the FSB and state media.

Putin said that, according to preliminary data, the “window” was prepared “from the Ukrainian side” to cross the border.

The Ukrainian authorities deny involvement in the attack.

Military experts also do not agree with the version of the Russian president.

- The direction for flights from terrorists has been chosen extremely strange, because now in the Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh and Belogorod regions that adjoin Ukraine, a huge number of security forces. This is the most uncomfortable direction for departure. It all looks like an attempt to bring public opinion on the "Ukrainian trace". In addition, the Belarusian security forces talked about the prevention of a breakthrough across the Belarusian border, and here it also turns out a inconsistency, - says the military expert (The name is not indicated for its safety). - How much these detained people are related to the terrorist attack is also a question. They are somehow flagrantly not like terrorists, in Russian they can hardly say, they look somehow wretched, with all respect. They hardly pull on such machines for murder that arranged such a large -scale terrorist attack. Indeed, on the frames from the Crocus we saw well -trained people who were prepared for more than one month.

Military expert Valery Shiryaev The version of the "Ukrainian trace" also criticized:

- The handwriting of the GUR and the SBU categorically does not coincide with the circumstances of the attack known to us. All of their so far known acts have been made under a copy of the copy - an attempt on a particular person by mining or execution in convenient circumstances.

It is impossible to imagine the ultimate goal of the terrorist attack in Crocus in the Ukrainian version: all its consequences turn directly against the Ukrainian leadership and put Kyiv into a fatal conflict with all NATO allies at the same time.

The versions of the international or purely Russian organization of Islamic fundamentalists seem much more reliable. The main thing in such a version is the quality of planning, the obvious experience of the terrorist center. The motives of the organizers are also obvious. The Russian army made a serious contribution to the defeat of radical Islamic groups in Syria and predetermined the death of the Islamic State, which was banned in the Russian Federation, ”Shiryaev believes. His words are given by the Brief telegram channel.

Meanwhile, the Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov said that the personalities of 50 died as a result of the attack were established. According to him, the bodies of the dead can be under the rubble. More than 3 thousand people came to donate blood and offered their help, Vorobyov added. Telegram channels publish lists of victims that make up the Ministry of Health.

We do not disclose the name of the authors of this publication due to the threat of criminal prosecution under the law on unwanted organizations in Russia.