Smoke occurred in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, firefighters rushed to the scene, emergency services reported.

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Reports appear on social media about an explosion in the Crocus City Hall building in Moscow.

Video from social media

❗️Details about the shooting in Crocus City Hall from a Sputnik correspondent who was at the scene:

People in camouflage, at least three of them, burst into the ground floor of the Crocus City Hall and opened fire with automatic weapons. There are definitely wounded"

After that, according to him, they threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire.

“The people in the hall lay down on the floor to escape the shooting, lay there for 15-20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out.”

❗️Law enforcement officers are working at the scene of an emergency in Crocus City Hall, reports Sputnik correspondent

❗️The Governor of the Moscow Region Vorobiev reported that he had gone to the site and an operational headquarters had been created

Russian Belgorod has been bombed twice in its history. That's who did it.

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⚡️An operational headquarters has been created at the scene of the emergency in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, all forces and means are directed to the scene of the incident, information about the victims is being clarified, the local administration reported

Footage of fire in Moscow's Crocus City Hall

⚡️More than 50 ambulance teams have been sent to Croсus City Hall area to provide medical care to everyone in need, the Moscow Region Ministry of Health told Sputnik

Footage of Crocus City Hall in these minutes

❗️About 100 people were escorted out of Crocus by firefighters, reports the Moscow region headquarters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

An operation is underway to rescue people from the roof of the building using lifting mechanisms.

US embassy in Moscow hinted at upcoming terrorist attack few weeks before Crocus Hall shooting

"The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists are planning to attack large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts, in the near future, and US citizens should avoid large gatherings for the next 48 hours,” the embassy wrote in a statement published on its website on March 7.

When the warning was first issued, it raised eyebrows among Russian observers since there was no public information suggesting that a terrorist attack was likely. The US embassy has yet to clarify what potential terrorist threat it was referring and where it got the intelligence from.

❗️The White House commented on what happened at Moscow's Crocus City Hall: the United States is aware of reports of the shooting, considers the footage from the scene “horrifying”

❗️Security officers are working at the scene of an emergency in Crocus.

❗️The White House claims that it had no information about the preparation of a terrorist attack in Moscow

❗️ The entire international community should condemn the tragic events in Crocus City Hall, said Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

❗️Explosion-like sounds are heard in Crocus, presumably due to a fire, reports Sputnik’s correspondent on the ground.

Helicopter and ambulances arrive at the scene seen near Crocus City Hall.