Moscow, Mar 24 (UNI) The bodies of 137 people, including three children, have been found at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, and 62 bodies have been identified so far, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Sunday.
"At the moment, the bodies of 137 people, three of whom are children, have been found at the scene of the terrorist attack. The crime scene is being examined. So far, 62 bodies have been identified," the committee said.
DNA tests are being run to confirm the identities of the remaining victims, the committee added.
A shooting occurred on Friday evening in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the city of Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire. A Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the attack reported that at least three men in camouflage had broken into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs. Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and the Rossiya Segodnya media group, said the death toll had reached 143 people.
Eleven people were detained in connection with the attack, including four who were directly involved, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. All four suspected shooters were detained in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Belarus and Ukraine, the FSB added.
The Moscow-area concert hall shooting became the deadliest attack in Russia in nearly 20 years.
UNI/SPUTNIK GNK