Russia-Ukraine war: Over 1300 still trapped under debris at bombed Mariupol theatre

Kyiv [Ukraine], March 18 (ANI): Over 1300 civilians are still stuck under the rubble at the Mariupol's drama theatre in Ukraine's south-east which was bombed on Wednesday allegedly by Russian aircraft, according to officials.
According to Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova, 130 people were rescued from the Mariupol theatre destroyed by a Russian strike on Wednesday however a vast majority of people remain stuck under the rubble, reported The Kyiv Independent.
A drama theatre that was hosting hundreds of civilians fleeing the conflict-ridden areas of the city of Mariupol in Ukraine's south-east was bombed allegedly by Russian aircraft, media reports said.
Mariupol City Council, who shared an image of the destroyed building, said Russian forces had "purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theater in the heart of Mariupol."
"It is still impossible to estimate the scale of this horrific and inhumane act because the city continues to shell residential areas," the council wrote on Telegram. "It is known that after the bombing, the central part of the Drama Theater was destroyed, and the entrance to the bomb shelter in the building was destroyed," it added.
The council stated that "the plane dropped a bomb on a building where hundreds of peaceful Mariupol residents were hiding."
Videos of the aftermath showed a fire raging in the theatre's ruins. The number of casualties has not been ascertained yet by the local authorities. Russia has been facing immense pressure from the international community to stop its military operations in Ukraine which has created an immense humanitarian crisis with thousands of refugees from Ukraine fleeing to the neighbouring countries to the west. (ANI)