Footage has emerged of scared students fleeing Kerch college in Crimea after it was attacked by a gunman. The sound of gunshots and a blast can be heard on some of the videos that have been posted online.

A video filmed outside the college just seconds after the blast has been uploaded by Izvestia newspaper. It shows smoke coming from the windows of the building.

"Holy sh*t! There's an explosion there," one of the students shouts, while another cries: "What the f**k is happening! What the f**k is happening!"

Numerous sounds of gunshots are then heard as students consider whether to try to help those inside or flee for their own safety.

In another video, published by Telegram channel Mash, confused and terrified students are seen fleeing the scene of the shooting and emotionally discussing what may have happened.

"It's f***ed up. I was looking up and there was a blast on the second or third floor... Everything went in flames," one of the witnesses said.

Numerous sounds of gunshots are then heard as students consider whether to try to help those inside or flee for their own safety.

In another video, published by Telegram channel Mash, confused and terrified students are seen fleeing the scene of the shooting and emotionally discussing what may have happened.

"It's f***ed up. I was looking up and there was a blast on the second or third floor... Everything went in flames," one of the witnesses said.

At one point, they stopped and one of them said: "Do you hear this?" And his friend replied: "Those are gunshots, right?" A young man shouts: "We want to live, mother***er!" while a girl starts to cry.

However, this group managed to stay calm, as one student called on the others to "Stop whining. We should remain calm," and tells his classmates to move faster and help the girls climb the fence in order to reach safety.

A separate video uploaded by Mash shows a much more desperate group escaping the scene, with a young man behind the camera shouting: "The place has been bombed... they're shooting there." Just the ground and the feet of running students can be seen in the shaky footage.

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...under Putin the Orthodox Church has largely resumed its pre-1917 role as the moral anchor of society. This elicits not only political opposition but a genuine and heartfelt hatred from the postmodern elites of an increasingly post-Christian West, not only for Putin personally and Russia generally but against the Russian Orthodox Church - and by extension against Orthodox Christianity itself.

This antipathy has many facets, too many to be detailed at one time in this short space. But for now it is sufficient to note two current attacks, both of them arising from within Orthodoxy itself, though no doubt with outside encouragement. One such attack relates to ecclesiastical structures and is overtly political. The other is in the moral sphere and seeks to inject into Orthodoxy the moral decay that has undermined so much of western Christianity.

The first, overtly political attack aims to split Ukraine from the main body of the Russian Orthodox Church under the authority of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

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• 14:46 College Director on Blast in Kerch "Five minutes after I left, some people burst in. They blew up the lobby, all the windows were shattered. They were running around throwing firecrackers. Then, armed with assault rifles, they were running around the second floor, opening doors to the classrooms and killing everyone who came their way... a real terrorist attack! Like in Beslan! I would have been dead by now because they shot dead all my people, children and the staff... I don't know," the college director told local media. According to the website Kerch.com.ru, the explosion occurred on the first floor and the shooting took place on the second. More than 10 people were killed and over 30 injured. All medics, emergency personnel and police have been scrambled to the site. With ambulances in short supply, the wounded are being taken in private cars. According to preliminary information, it was a terrorist act.
• 14:43 Death Toll from Explosion in Crimea Rises to 13 - Russian Investigative Committee"At the moment, there is information that 13 were killed and about 50 wounded, most of them teenagers. The information about those injured is being specified," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.
• 14:39 Three Days of Mourning to be Held in Kerch Following the Explosion - Crimean Head Aksenov"I express the most sincere and deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the explosion at the Kerch Polytechnic College. Shocked by this terrible tragedy, I share your pain and grief. Three days of mourning will be declared in Crimea in connection with this tragedy," Sergei Aksyonov wrote on Facebook.
• 14:21 Blast in Kerch Was a Terrorist Act - Russian Investigative CommitteeAccording to investigators, an unidentified explosive device filled with metal objects detonated in a cafeteria at a tech college in Kerch. The committee has also begun interviewing witnesses and examining surveillance camera footage."Criminal proceedings have been initiated by the Russian Investigative Committee over the death of people as a result of an explosion at a Kerch college," the press service for the committee said on WhatsApp, citing spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko.

The suspect in the Kerch college attack has been identified as a 22-year-old student. He committed suicide after killing 18 people and injuring dozens with gunfire and a blast the head of the Republic of Crimea has said.

"The suspected murderer shot himself," Sergey Aksenov told the media. "He was a senior student of the same college."

The official added that the number of people killed in the attack, which is reportedly mostly made up of students, has risen to 18. Earlier, witnesses claimed there were multiple masked attackers involved, but Aksenov didn't mention any possible accomplices.

A deadly blast has rocked a college in Crimea's Kerch, leaving at least 10 people dead and 50 more injured. The blast has been classified by the Russian Investigative Committee as a terrorist attack. According to eyewitnesses, it was an explosive device that went off on the first floor and gunfire was heard.

"I was driving by while on other business and heard an explosion. I stopped and saw that a crowd of people had begun gathering near the college. I approached to see what was going on. There was already a lot of law enforcement agencies, ambulances, traffic police, military personnel, firefighters... They carried away the victims," witness Alexander told Sputnik.

"There was no central entrance, it was taken out, and there were no windows on the first floor. Now, various rumors are circulating about what happened, whether it was a terrorist attack or gas explosion. There is plenty of evidence that it was not gas, but rather an explosive device," Alexander added.

Speaking to Sputnik Government of the Republic of Crimea, Deputy Head of the Administration of the City of Kerch, Dilyaver Melgaziev said that a task group is working at the scene.

"It will be possible to say something once the mission has been completed. We've taken all the necessary measures. Ambulances are ready, health care institutions are ready, social workers and psychologists are all in place. The administration's emergency response team has been deployed. Everything that's necessary under the priority plan has been done," Dilyaver Melgaziev said.

According to the Russian Investigative Committee, the death toll in the deadly blast in the Kerch college has risen to 13. Up to 50 people were injured. The local website Krech.com.ru reports that the explosion occurred on the first floor and the shooting took place on the second.

"Five minutes after I left, some people burst in. They blew up the lobby, all the windows were shattered. They were running around throwing firecrackers. Then, armed with assault rifles, they were running around the second floor, opening doors to the classrooms and killing everyone who came their way... a real terrorist attack! Like in Beslan! I would have been dead by now because they shot dead all my people, children and the staff... I don't know," Olga Grebennikova, college director told Krech.com.ru.

Russia's Investigative Committee said that it now treats the attack on a college in the Crimean city of Kerch as murder and not a terror attack as it was classified previously.

The preliminary examination of the bodies of the victims indicates that they died of gunshot wounds.

Nobody was killed by the blast that rocked the college earlier on Wednesday, the Investigative Committee said.

The attacker was identified as 18-year-old Vladislav Roslyakov.Roslyakov, who was one of the students at the college, was caught by CCTV cameras with a rifle in his hands. His body with a gunshot wound was later discovered on the college's premises.

"The investigation believes that this young man shot the people in the college and then committed suicide," the Committee said.

The new finding led to the criminal case being reclassified from terrorism to murder of two or more people, it added.

The Investigative Committee said 17 people were killed and dozens injured in the attack.

The suspect in the Kerch college attack has been identified as a student. He committed suicide after killing 17 people and injuring dozens with gunfire and a blast.

"The suspected murderer shot himself," Sergey Aksenov told the media. "He was a senior student of the same college."

The official added that the number of people killed in the attack, which is reportedly mostly made up of students, has risen to 18, apparently including the suspect. Earlier, witnesses claimed there were multiple masked attackers involved, but Aksenov didn't mention any possible accomplices.

Russia's investigative committee has named the suspect as Vladislav Roslyakov and said he was 18, rather than 22 as first reported. It added the incident was now considered a multiple homicide rather than a terrorist attack.

The violence in a Kerch polytechnic college was initially reported as a gas leak blast. It later became clear that an improvised explosive device was responsible for the powerful explosion, which happened in the canteen of the college on the first floor. The agency said the preliminary on-site investigation revealed that the improvised explosive device was filled with shrapnel.

This is the first major attack on Crimean soil since the region joined with Russia in 2014 following a popular referendum. With mass school shootings uncommon in Russia, the massacre has been compared to the tragic 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis and siege, in which 333 people were killed.

In the aftermath of the blast, security measures were ramped up across the peninsula. Police have sent additional patrols to the Crimean bridge that connects Crimea with mainland Russia, while local authorities have declared an emergency. The Emergencies Ministry deployed three medevac helicopters and a transport plane to help the injured.

The Russian government has conveyed its condolences to the families of the victims, while psychological help is being provided to people who lost their loved ones in the attack. A three-day period of mourning has been declared in Crimea, starting on Wednesday.

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