Before the performance started at 8 p.m., a large crowd gathered in the 6,200-seat auditorium of the Crocus City Hall theater.
According to Russian media, almost all tickets for the event have been sold out.
The bloodiest terrorist tragedy in Russia in the past 20 years began at about 7:50 p.m., when a group of four men wearing camouflage clothes arrived at Crocus City Hall in a white Renault, according to Russian TV channel Izvestia.
A group of suspects carrying AK rifles entered the theater, shooting at anyone they met on the way, from the security forces to the building’s receptionist.
One of the four guards said his colleagues hid behind a billboard.
Crocus City Hall theater location.
The first person fired bullets at people standing near the theater’s entrance.
A woman and her 11-year-old daughter were buying ice cream at a cafe near the entrance.
Inside the auditorium, some people thought that these explosions were part of the performance’s effects, because the event was about to start.
But at 8:03 p.m., gunmen burst into the theater and opened fire.
The auditorium immediately became chaotic.
The terrorist group’s movement route in the theater.
Video recorded by a survivor and spread on Russian social networks shows a group of spectators desperately trying to open the escape door.
While the victims tried to escape, four gunmen walked between the rows of seats in the theater, shooting at anyone in sight.
`We ran behind the curtain and met a uniformed Crocus employee who showed us the way out to the parking lot,` one woman said.
Ms. Elena, 61 years old, said a man suddenly jumped towards the terrorist standing in the middle of the row of seats, stole his weapon and used the butt of the gun to knock him down.
The man’s brave actions helped dozens of victims easily escape through the emergency exit, including Ms. Elena.
A male spectator said the attackers threw petrol bombs, and `everything caught fire`.
Before special forces and riot police arrived at the scene, the attackers left the Crocus City Hall theater and got into a white Renault to escape at 8:13 p.m.
The entire shooting and arson incident took more than 20 minutes, but left at least 137 people dead and more than 180 injured.
20 minutes of terror in a Russian theater hit by a terrorist attack
How the Russian theater terrorist attack took place.
According to witnesses, the fire engulfed the entire upper floor of the Crocus theater complex.
At around 10 p.m., almost the entire roof of the Crocus Theater collapsed.
Self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) rebels claimed responsibility and released a video of the attack.
Russian police immediately sent troops to patrol every road, strengthening control of border gates and airports to search for suspects.
Russian MP Alexander Khinshtein said that a few hours after the terrorist attack, police discovered a suspicious white Renault in the Bryansk region, about 340 km from Moscow.
The group of suspects fled into the forest and were chased by Russian authorities.
These four suspects include Dalerdjon Mirzoyev, 32 years old, Saidakrami Rahabalizod, 30 years old, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, 19 years old and Shamsidin Fariduni, 25 years old.
Russian officials brought four suspects to court in Moscow on March 24.
The fire at the Crocus City Hall theater was controlled on the evening of March 22.
Hannah