AP evidence points to 600 dead in Mariupol theater airstrike
The AP investigation recreated what happened inside the theater on that day from the accounts of 23 survivors, rescuers, and people intimately familiar with its new life as a bomb shelter. The AP also drew on two sets of floor plans of the theater, photos and video taken inside before, during and after that day and feedback from experts who reviewed the methodology.
Associated Press reconstructed a 3D model of the building based on eyewitness accounts, two sets of floor plans of the theatre, photos and videos taken inside, Censor.NET reports.
All witnesses said that at least 100 people were in the field kitchen near the house, and no one survived. They also said that the rooms and corridors inside the building were overcrowded, with about one person for every 3 square meters.
Many survivors estimate that about 1,000 people were inside during the airstrike, but no one saw more than 200 escape.
The investigation also refutes Russia's allegations that the theatre served as a Ukrainian military base. None of the witnesses saw the Ukrainian military operating inside the building. And no one doubted that the theatre was destroyed by an attack by Russian aircraft.
On March 16, the occupying forces dropped a heavy bomb on the Mariupol Drama Theater, where refugees who had lost their homes were hiding. The Mariupol City Council reported that about 300 people died in the drama theatre as a result of the bombing by a Russian plane.
