People had to get out on their own, Russian emergency services arrived late at the scene of the terror attack, the BBC reported

During Friday’s terrorist attack on a concert hall near Moscow, people had to get out of the building on their own, Russian emergency units only entered the premises about an hour and a half after the shooting ended, rescuers arrived even later. In its report on the reaction of the Russian forces, the Russian editorial staff of the BBC drew attention to this. According to the new balance sheet of the local authorities, the attack claimed at least 143 lives.

The shooting at the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow began on Friday at 19:58 local time. According to the head of the Russian criminal center Alexander Bastrykin, the attack lasted eighteen minutes. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the police arrived at the concert hall five minutes after receiving the warning, but there is no evidence for this, the BBC noted.

“Police or OMON (special security forces) are just starting to come here. Terrorists, or I don’t know who, are shooting with automatic weapons and there is no one to help the people. Everyone tried to save as much as they could,” described a visibly upset witness to the attack from the scene.

Judging by Russian media reports, the police mainly cordoned off the area around the complex and helped the injured. At the same time, many people had to get out of the hall under their own power, some of them were taken out by part-timers in their teenage years, who earned extra money at the concert as wardrobe attendants. The merits of these part-timers, some of whom were only fourteen or fifteen years old, were also described by the Meduza portal. He also recalled the testimony of one of the participants of the concert, who described that people had to break down the door to get out.

Members of the special rapid response unit (SOBR) reached the concert hall at 9:39 p.m. local time, the Russian authorities said, according to the agencies. This is more than an hour after the attack ended, the BBC noted. Rescuers then arrived at the site about an hour later than SOBR.

The men suspected of the attack managed to escape from the premises. They then covered a distance of about 370 kilometers before they were arrested in the Bryansk region near the border with Ukraine, according to the FSB, Russia’s secret service.