Terror scare in Moscow: ‘Chechens’ hold music hall hostage

Eyewitnesses said 18-20 children and Muslims were among those released from the building. One released woman said: ‘‘They were Chechens, and they didn’t bother hiding it.’’

A teenager released by the gang told Russian television that the armed gang wanted ‘‘the war to be stopped’’, an apparent reference to the long-running secessionist war in Russia’s turbulent Chechnya province.

He said the group of 20-30 attackers had burst into the theatre, one firing a burst of bullets into the ceiling. ‘‘He told all the actors to sit down on the front rows. Then women and men came in with masks.

‘‘Some women were strapped with explosives and they said they would blow up the whole building in 10 minutes if they (police) started to storm the building’’, teenager Denis Afanasyev told Russian television.

Another student called Alexei, also released, said the Chechens who burst in shouted out: ‘‘Release Chechnya and Russia from Russians. Stop the war in Chechnya.’’

A Reuters reporter close to the theatre said he had heard four to five gunshots near the building. Other reports said the shots came from inside the theatre.

Police marksmen took up positions on roof tops and other vantage points overlooking the theatre, known as the former House of Culture in Melnikov Street in southeast Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin, who had been due on Thursday to leave on an official visit to Europe, was informed of the incident and returned to the Kremlin for a crisis session with security chiefs. (Reuters)