Nearly 100 still in hospital following Moscow terrorist attack

Emergency services are at the scene following an attack at a popular concert hall complex on Friday where assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices, killing at least 100 people and injuring hundreds. Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Emergency services are at the scene following an attack at a popular concert hall complex on Friday where assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices, killing at least 100 people and injuring hundreds. Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Three days after the terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall, 97 people are still being treated in hospitals, the head of the Moscow region's health administration said on Monday.

The patients are spread across hospitals in the capital and the Moscow region, Lyudmila Bolatayeva said.

According to Russian news agencies, the injuries suffered varied in severity.

By the Russian authorities' most recent count, 137 people were killed and more than 180 injured in the attack on Friday evening. It cannot be ruled out that more bodies will be found in the rubble of the burnt-out hall.

Four armed men shot indiscriminately at visitors before a rock concert in the Crocus City Hall event centre. On Sunday evening, they were brought before a court in Moscow and taken into custody. The faces of the men showed injuries as traces of suspected torture.

According to media reports, mourners were still laying flowers at an improvised memorial at the Crocus City fence on Monday.

The Islamic State terrorist militia claimed responsibility for the attack in several messages.

Western security authorities and experts consider the claim to be credible and suspect the IS offshoot Islamic State Province of Khorasan (ISPK) to be behind the attack.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at a Ukrainian connection to the assault, without providing any evidence. Putin also claimed that the perpetrators of the attack attempted to flee in the direction of Ukraine.

Ukraine has adamantly denied any responsibility for the attack.