Around 300 dead, 600 survivors in Mariupol theatre attack: city official

Approximately 600 people are estimated to have survived a Russian bomb strike on a theatre in Mariupol nine days ago, according to a mayor’s adviser.

Since the March 16 incident, information about dead and survivors has been sluggish to emerge, and the lack of a functioning police force and emergency responders’ network has made compiling an official tally impossible, according to Petro Andriushchenko on his Telegram channel.

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Instead, he revealed “almost official” data and described how the council arrived at the figure of about 300 fatalities published earlier in the day.

He explained that council officials began with information regarding the number of people utilising the theatre as a shelter, which fluctuated on a daily basis as new people arrived and others went.

They also acquired information from persons who lived near the theatre or visited the site after the incident.

Finally, city officials were assisted by a local journalist who had specific information about people who had fled the city.

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“This is not just the testimony of one person. It is the result of great and careful work,” Andriushchenko said.

As a result, he determined, the city’s “almost official” numbers placed approximately 900 persons in the theatre on the day of the explosion.

The estimated 300 individuals killed were on the higher floors of the building and in the theater’s back row.

Many of the 600 people who survived were on their way from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, he said.

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Russia has denied responsibility for the internationally condemned strike.

During the strike, the word “children” was inscribed in huge letters on the ground outside the theatrical building in the city centre.

Following the strike, both Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, and the city council accused Russia of committing a war crime.