MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. Materials used for interior furnishing of the Crocus City Hall concert venue just outside Moscow probably helped the fire, set by terrorists, to spread rapidly across the building, law enforcement sources told TASS.
"According to preliminary information, walls of the Crocus City Hall concert venue were decorated with flammable materials that may have helped the fire, set by terrorists, to spread very rapidly," one source said.
He added that apart from being highly flammable, these materials produce large amounts of highly toxic smoke when burning.
Russian law enforcement bodies said all reports, documents and certificates were now being carefully studied and analyzed.
Eyewitnesses who managed to flee the burning building said the fire, set by terrorists, engulfed an entire wall of the concert hall almost instantly.
A lawyer representing the attack’s victims, Igor Trunov, requested the Russian Investigative Committee to launch a criminal case against the concert hall’s owners, because the building lacked proper fire safety equipment.
On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, just outside the Moscow city limits. According to the latest data, 144 people have died, and 551 others have been injured. All four gunmen have been apprehended, while five others are believed to have aided them, according to investigators. The Russian Investigative Committee said the perpetrators had links with Ukrainian nationalists.