Mother worries for son who survived Moscow concert horror

STORY: Fourteen-year-old Artem Donskov helped people flee a concert hall near Moscow after gunmen stormed the building last month.

Now, his mother worries about his mental health, saying the teen has put off seeing a psychologist.

Artem was working at Crocus concert hall as a cloakroom attendant.

In an interview with Reuters, he says he and his colleagues helped people escape via a service corridor and directed them to the exits.

"Initially I was standing in the cloakroom, then we heard shooting. At first, together with people we opened the service door, walked through the service corridor towards our staff room. After that we focused and started to take people outside, showing where the exit is and making sure everyone came out."

Gunmen burst into the concert hall on March 22, spraying concert-goers with gunfire and setting the building ablaze.

"As I understood, a man screamed that terrorists might come to us and everyone was frightened. At first, some people ran into a dead end, then they ran outside dropping their mobile phones, bags and tried to escape as fast as they could."

The attack left 144 people dead, the deadliest inside Russia in 20 years.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility but Russia says the attackers were linked to Ukraine. An assertion Kyiv has repeatedly denied.

Artem's mother Alexandra Donskova says it has left the family emotionally exhausted and that she is concerned about her son's wellbeing.

“I would like him to have at least one session with a psychologist,” she says. “He isn’t agreeing to it at the moment.”

She says her son is a shy person who doesn’t like to talk a lot.

But she hopes with time, he will seek help.

“I think we will do it soon,” she says. “We will take a break and he will rest. We all need rest because everyone has had a hard time.”