A group of gunmen carried out a terror attack on the popular Russian concert venue Crocus City Hall, leaving at least 40 people dead and more than 100 others injured, according to reports from Russian state media.
Crocus City Hall was constructed in 2009 in Krasnogorsky, a suburb of Moscow. According to publicly available information, the venue contains three separate performance spaces: an auditorium, with a capacity of over 7,000; a concert hall, with a capacity of over 4,000; and a theater, with a capacity over over 3,000. Past performers at Crocus City Hall have included Eric Clapton, a-ha, and Joe Cocker. The venue was also the site of the Miss Universe pageant in 2013.
The popular Russian rock band Picnic had been scheduled to perform at Crocus City Hall around the time of the attack, according to the New York Times.
In videos posted to social media, gunmen can be seen entering the venue and opening fire on people in the lobby of the concert hall. The attackers are also believed to have denoted explosives, as smoke and fire could be seen from outside of the venue.
This is a developing story…