People initially thought they heard firecrackers, says attack eyewitness
We’ve been hearing from some of the people caught up in last night’s deadly attack on Moscow’s Crocus Concert Hall.
One woman was with her 11-year-old daughter, buying ice cream at a café near the entrance, when they heard the noise and someone shouted to get down on the floor.
“We rushed to the children, lay down and started setting up barricades from tables and chairs, and several wounded people came running to us,” a woman who was at the café with her 11-year-old daughter, has told BBC Russian.
Inside the theatre, the concert had been due to start in just a few minutes and some thought the noise might be part of the act.
Sofiko Kvirikashvili heard what she initially thought was “some kind of endless burst of firecrackers – I turned around in the hall once, then again. The third time, I realised everyone in the hall had started running away in all directions.”
Dave Primov, the photographer, said there was a crush and a scene of panic. Some in the theatre tried to lie down between the seats, but with several gunmen opening fire in the stalls, that offered little protection.
Those in the audience who could, headed for the stage. Others tried to find higher exits, only to find some of the doors locked. Eyewitnesses said there were elderly people as well as children there, all caught up in the attack.
