Ambassadors lay flowers at site of Russia hall massacre

Foreign diplomats in Russia have laid flowers at the site of last week’s attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed 144 people.

Those in attendance included ambassadors and heads of missions from around the world including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti noted that the attendees included representatives of “unfriendly states”.

Since the attack, thousands of people have brought bunches of flowers, wreaths and other tokens such as teddy bears, creating a makeshift memorial at the Crocus City Hall.

Russian state news agency Tass reported on Saturday that the number of people wounded in the attack was 551, quoting figures from the Moscow regional department of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry.

Previous figures have been much lower and it did not explain the discrepancy.

The death toll rose to 144 on Friday when a severely injured victim died in a hospital, according to Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko.

An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest on Russian soil in years.

The Kremlin has insisted that Ukraine had a role, something officials in Kyiv has vehemently denied.

Nine people were detained by Tajikistan’s state security service in relation to the attack, RIA Novosti said on Friday.

In Russia, a total of nine suspects have faced court so far and were remanded in pre-trial detention.

The latest hearing took place on Friday, with a judge in the Basmanny District Court ruling that suspect Lutfulloi Nazrimad should be held in custody until at least May 22.

Russian independent news site Mediazona cited Nazrimad as saying in court that he was born in Tajikistan.

Since the attack, Tajikistan’s Ministry of Labour, Migration and Employment has registered an outflow of migrants workers from Moscow back to Tajikistan.

“There are a lot of calls. These are most likely not so much complaints about harassment but about our citizens’ fear, panic, many want to leave. We are now monitoring the situation; more people are coming (to Tajikistan) than leaving,” Deputy Labour Minister Shakhnoza Nodiri told Tass, the news agency said on Saturday.

Russian officials previously said that 11 suspects had been arrested, including four who allegedly carried out the attack.

Those four, identified as Tajik citizens, appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings.

One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

Russia’s Investigative Committee additionally said on Thursday it had detained another suspect in relation to the raid on Crocus City Hall, on suspicion of being involved in financing the attack.