NEARLY 100 PEOPLE STILL MISSING SINCE MOSCOW TERROR ATTACK

Recent report from a Russian news outlet revealed that as many as 95 individuals remain unaccounted for after a violent attack near Moscow last week. During the assault, gunmen indiscriminately fired automatic weapons at concert attendees and set the venue ablaze.

Official figures state that 140 people lost their lives in the tragic incident, with an additional 182 individuals sustaining injuries. However, according to Baza news service, which maintains reliable connections within Russian security and law enforcement, emergency services have received appeals from relatives seeking information about missing loved ones, resulting in the compilation of lists.

"These lists contain individuals who have not been reached by their relatives since the terrorist attack, yet are not included in the roster of injured or deceased," stated Baza. "Some of these individuals may have perished but remain unidentified."

Russian investigators have determined that the attack involved four perpetrators armed with Kalashnikov automatic weapons. Evidence collected from the scene indicates the discharge of over 500 rounds during the assault.

The shooting began shortly before the Soviet-era rock group "Picnic" was set to play to a full house of 6,200 people. More than 200 people could have been in the blazing building moments before the roof collapsed, Baza reported on Saturday, citing emergency service sources who reviewed surveillance footage.

Russian social media channels have been flooded in the days since the shooting with appeals to help find victims.

Gathering in a Telegram chat called "Crocus. Help Centre," friends and relatives shared names of missing concertgoers and offered support.

"Was there anyone on the list named Igor Valentinovich Klimenchenko?," one user wrote on Saturday night. "Can someone send the list of victims?"

The name Klimenchenko was not on the list of confirmed dead published by Russia's emergencies ministry.

'VERY WORRIED'

Another person wrote in the same chat that their uncle worked not far from Crocus and hadn't been in touch since the attack. "I'm very worried," the nephew wrote on Saturday night.

Local media in the Bryansk region, southwestern Russia, reported on Wednesday that a woman was still searching for her son, Dmitry Bashlykov, a schoolteacher in Moscow who went to the "Picnic" concert with a friend who managed to escape.

Bashlykov's name was not on the emergencies ministry list.

Several missing persons have since been confirmed dead, like 15-year-old Arseny, who went to the concert with his mother, Irina Vedeneyeva.

The SHOT Telegram channel on Sunday published a photo of Arseny that it said he sent his grandmother shortly before the concert began, along with appeals from the "grief-stricken pensioner" to help find him. His mother had already been confirmed dead, SHOT said.

In the photo, Arseny stands in a black hooded sweatshirt in front of a poster for Picnic, which SHOT said was his favourite band. On Monday, the channel wrote that Arseny's body had been found and identified by his relatives.

The names of both mother and son are on the list of confirmed dead published by Russia's emergencies ministry.

With inputs from Reuters

2024-03-28T04:01:43Z dg43tfdfdgfd