NEW DELHI: Russian artist Alyona Kazinskaya, who had a last-moment escape with burning lungs and squinting eyes, recalls the fatal Crocus Mall attack that had filled the building with smoke, causing difficulty for the survivors to slip safely out of the building.
Kazinskaya and his friends had brought tickets at the end moment to see Soviet-era rock group “Picnic” perform in the Mall near Moscow.
The short-lived excitement turned into a lifetime horror at about 8:01 pm when breathless Kazinskaya posted a first audio message on her Telegram channel amid gunfire blaring across the hall.
“I love you all. I’m in Crocus City Hall – Picnic. They’re shooting here, at the concert. I’m in the hall. Call the police,” fearful Kazinskya said.
In an interview with Reuters, Kazinskaya said she “understood quickly that the sounds she was hearing were gunshots, not special effects. With her friend, she tried to get the people around them to leave their seats and run”.
“We tried to get people up, we got them up, but people had already run to the exit and we couldn’t get through. At that moment they (the gunmen) entered the hall. Then I threw my friend to the floor and I said ‘let’s crawl’,” she said
“And finally, the third thought was I’m going to write something now – yes I’m frightened but I’m going to put these messages in my (Telegram) channel because that way someone, somewhere will definitely hear them, find them and call someone,” she said while sharing the fateful night.
At 8:08 pm, Kazinskaya wrote three texts in quick succession, with trembling fingers on the phone.
“Please ring the police!!!!!”
“Crocus City Hall”
“Shooting”
A one-word audio message at 8:17 pm was “Fire!”
The gunmen had used gasoline to set the huge concert hall ablaze. The two friends took refuge in a toilet. There was smoke everywhere. They tried half a dozen times to get out, but they couldn’t see anything and had to keep retreating.
At 8:23 pm she left a four-second audio message when she thought it would be her last one.
“I love you. Goodbye.”
During the attack, gunmen used gasoline to set the concert hall ablaze. Two friends took refuge in a toilet, surrounded by thick smoke.
Despite multiple escape attempts, they were forced back by the dense smoke. As four gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles stormed through the venue, firing at concert attendees, Kazinskaya found herself caught in Russia’s deadliest attack in two decades.
(With Reuters inputs)
Kazinskaya and his friends had brought tickets at the end moment to see Soviet-era rock group “Picnic” perform in the Mall near Moscow.
The short-lived excitement turned into a lifetime horror at about 8:01 pm when breathless Kazinskaya posted a first audio message on her Telegram channel amid gunfire blaring across the hall.
“I love you all. I’m in Crocus City Hall – Picnic. They’re shooting here, at the concert. I’m in the hall. Call the police,” fearful Kazinskya said.
In an interview with Reuters, Kazinskaya said she “understood quickly that the sounds she was hearing were gunshots, not special effects. With her friend, she tried to get the people around them to leave their seats and run”.
“We tried to get people up, we got them up, but people had already run to the exit and we couldn’t get through. At that moment they (the gunmen) entered the hall. Then I threw my friend to the floor and I said ‘let’s crawl’,” she said
“And finally, the third thought was I’m going to write something now – yes I’m frightened but I’m going to put these messages in my (Telegram) channel because that way someone, somewhere will definitely hear them, find them and call someone,” she said while sharing the fateful night.
At 8:08 pm, Kazinskaya wrote three texts in quick succession, with trembling fingers on the phone.
“Please ring the police!!!!!”
“Crocus City Hall”
“Shooting”
A one-word audio message at 8:17 pm was “Fire!”
The gunmen had used gasoline to set the huge concert hall ablaze. The two friends took refuge in a toilet. There was smoke everywhere. They tried half a dozen times to get out, but they couldn’t see anything and had to keep retreating.
At 8:23 pm she left a four-second audio message when she thought it would be her last one.
“I love you. Goodbye.”
During the attack, gunmen used gasoline to set the concert hall ablaze. Two friends took refuge in a toilet, surrounded by thick smoke.
Despite multiple escape attempts, they were forced back by the dense smoke. As four gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles stormed through the venue, firing at concert attendees, Kazinskaya found herself caught in Russia’s deadliest attack in two decades.
(With Reuters inputs)