'I pretended I was shot': Survivors of Moscow attack recount harrowing moments of mass shooting
At least 137 people, including three children, were killed at Crocus City Hall on Friday night
Survivors of a terror attack on a Moscow concert hall have recounted the harrowing moments of the night.
At least 137 people, including three children, were killed at Crocus City Hall on Friday night, when gunmen stormed the entertainment venue, firing at anyone nearby.
Speaking from her hospital bed, one woman described how she "fell on the ground and pretended" she was shot.
"They killed the girl next to me, probably," she added.
After lying still for a few minutes she managed to crawl to an exit to escape, but she remains in hospital recovering.
Videos taken by those in the hallways and in the auditorium showed people screaming and trying to flee as the gunmen continued firing shots.
Another survivor shared the moment he heard the initial bullets fired from outside the auditorium. He grabbed his wife and hauled her over the stage and out a back exit.
"Thank god, they (the terrorists) got into before the start of the show," he said.
"If the lights were off and the music was playing, nobody would even heard that in the foyer the shooting began. We were saved because we heard the bursts of shots, and it was clear that something very serious happened. "
By 8.30pm local time, a massive fire raged inside the building, with thick, black smoke billowing from the roof that later collapsed.
Ruslan, a paramedic, retold his colleague Alexander's story of the night.
"He was on duty that day when they heard the shots," he explained.
The venue's administrator ran to tell the medical team and as they were trying to escape, Alexander shielded her with his body.
"They saw bloodied bodies, dead and wounded and began taking pulse of those who could still be helped," Ruslan said.
"I don't know how he managed to find the exit, it was complete darkness and he had no time to think, he was ruled by an instinct."
Four men - who are allegedly affiliated with the so-called Islamic State group - faced terrorism charges in a Russian court on Monday.
A court statement said two of the suspects accepted their guilt in the assault after being charged in the preliminary hearing, though the men’s condition raised questions about whether they were speaking freely.
There had been conflicting reports earlier in Russian media outlets that said three or all four men admitted culpability.
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court have formally charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30, Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, with committing a group terrorist attack resulting in the death of others.
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