A schoolboy has been hailed a hero for saving more than 100 people from an ISIS-led gun massacre at a concert hall in Moscow.
When cold-hearted terrorists began shooting concert-goers, 15-year-old Islam Khalilov was at work in his part time job as a cloakroom attendant at the Crocus City Hall venue. As he was familiar with the enormous building from his after school jobs, he knew where to find the emergency exit and guided petrified people to get out unharmed, saving dozens of lives.
As Russia today holds a Day of Mourning for the 133 confirmed to have died in the horror, his bravery and quick thinking has been praised. The British Embassy in Moscow and consulate in Yekaterinburg lowered their flags “to mourn with the Russian people the victims of the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall”.
The horror attack unfolded on Friday night (AFP via Getty Images)New footage has been found of people constructing barricades from cafe chairs, to try and avoid being gunned down by the brutal killers. In another video, Russian troops are seen kicking and beating a terrorist suspect when he was detained in the Bryansk region.
The boy is pictured guiding the fleeing crowd out through an emergency stairway. He shouts: “That way, that way, that way. Everybody go that way. Everybody over there. To the Expo, to the Expo….” Islam said: “At first we heard some strange sounds on the first floor. We thought maybe some noisy group had come.”
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Hero schoolboy Islam Khalilov, 15, a part-time cloakroom worker at Crocus City Hall (Social media/east2west news)Then he saw people start running in terror. He saw a man being shot in front of him - and knew he had to escape, and help others. “I understood that if I didn’t react, I would lose my life and the lives of many people,” he said.
“Honestly, it was very scary," he added. He shouted and indicated to the frightened and panic-stricken people to follow him. When I was in the crowd of people, walking to the door to open it, I thought [the gunmen] might come out of the stairs or from the escalator, and throw a grenade or open lethal fire.
“Thank God, nothing happened. I managed to open the door in time and let everyone out towards the Expo.” The teenage saviour led more than 100 people to the [Crocus] Expo entrance in an adjacent building.
The building was still burning throughout Saturday (Getty Images)A keen footballer, Islam himself walked last to make sure no one was left behind. He explained: “We were shown and told where to send people if something happened. I knew where to take people to keep them safe.”
He revealed his mother was in shock over the horror. “Mum was shocked and cried because I had to go through all this,” she said. “That all this happened before my eyes. To be honest, I’m still in a state of shock. A man was shot right in front of me, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
The schoolboy, a Muslim, is expected to be honoured by Russian law enforcement. The spiritual leader of Russian Muslims, Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, is separately presenting a medal to him.
An offshoot of ISIS is seen by many as being behind the attack in which a total of 285 people, including eight children, were victims. The current official death toll is 133, including three children - and 114 people, including four children were rushed to hospitals.
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