First day of school brings death - How to deal with militant Islam 101, Russian Style
Russian Forces Storm School; 7 Killed
Associated Press | 3 Sep | MIKE ECKEL
BESLAN, Russia - At least seven people were killed and 310 others wounded Friday, reports said, after commandos stormed a school in southern Russia where hundreds had been held hostage for three days by rebels strapped with explosives.
AP Photo
Troops killed five of the hostage-takers but 13 others escaped, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. Troops backed by tanks were pursuing the militants, some of whom were said to be holed up in a house in the area, ITAR-Tass said.
Russian authorities claimed to have control of the school, and the Interfax news agency reported that all the hostages had been evacuated from the school gymnasium. But gunfire continued to ring out some three hours after the commandos' raid.
The scene around the school was chaotic: people running through the streets, columns of smoke overhead, the cries of children and the wounded carried off on stretchers. An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances speeding by, the windows streaked with blood.
Seven people were killed, ITAR-Tass said, and some 310 hostages most of them children were wounded, officials from the regional Health Ministry told the news agency. At least four of the dead were children. Sixty-nine children were admitted to one hospital five in grave condition, the head of the hospital said. A nurse spreading sheets on stretchers told The Associated Press that Russian officials expected "very many" wounded.
It was not immediately clear what led to the events Friday, the third day of the hostage crisis in Beslan. Early reports suggested the militants had agreed to let Russia retrieve the bodies of 10 to 20 hostages who had been killed. A local legislator, Azamat Kadykov, had told the hostages' relatives that 20 adult men had been executed.
Emergency personnel went to get the bodies, and the militants began setting off bombs and opening fire on people around the school, ITAR-Tass said. Some 30 women and children broke out of the building, some bloodied and screaming, and commandos then launched the assault.
The militants reportedly fired at children who ran from the building, and unconfirmed reports said some of the hostage-takers, possibly including women bearing suicide belts, had fled during the chaos and may have taken hostages with them.
During the raid, the militants were separated into three groups some with hostages, police told Interfax.
Women escaping the building were seen fainting and others, some covered in blood, were carried away on stretchers.
Interfax said the school's roof had collapsed possibly from the explosives some militants had strapped to their bodies. The militants reportedly wired parts of the school with bombs and threatened to blow up the building if authorities tried to storm.
There were conflicting reports of the number of hostages being held at the school. Officials had initially said about 350 but some freed hostages among a small group freed Thursday put the number at about 1,500. On Thursday, the militants had freed about 26 hostages, all women and children.
Russian officials had negotiated on and off with the militants since shortly after the crisis began, and they said the hostage-takers had repeatedly refused offers of food and water.
"They are very cruel people, we are facing a ruthless enemy," said Leonid Roshal, a pediatrician involved in the negotiations. "I talked with them many times on my cell phone, but every time I ask to give food, water and medicine to the hostages they refuse my request."
President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) had said that everything possible would be done to end the "horrible" crisis and save the lives of the children.
Two major hostage-taking raids by Chechen rebels outside the war-torn region in the past decade prompted forceful Russian rescue operations that led to many deaths. The most recent, the seizure of a Moscow theater in 2002, ended after a knockout gas was pumped into the building, debilitating the captors but causing almost all of the 129 hostage deaths.
Russian Forces Storm School; 7 Killed
Associated Press | 3 Sep | MIKE ECKEL
BESLAN, Russia - At least seven people were killed and 310 others wounded Friday, reports said, after commandos stormed a school in southern Russia where hundreds had been held hostage for three days by rebels strapped with explosives.
AP Photo
Troops killed five of the hostage-takers but 13 others escaped, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. Troops backed by tanks were pursuing the militants, some of whom were said to be holed up in a house in the area, ITAR-Tass said.
Russian authorities claimed to have control of the school, and the Interfax news agency reported that all the hostages had been evacuated from the school gymnasium. But gunfire continued to ring out some three hours after the commandos' raid.
The scene around the school was chaotic: people running through the streets, columns of smoke overhead, the cries of children and the wounded carried off on stretchers. An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances speeding by, the windows streaked with blood.
Seven people were killed, ITAR-Tass said, and some 310 hostages most of them children were wounded, officials from the regional Health Ministry told the news agency. At least four of the dead were children. Sixty-nine children were admitted to one hospital five in grave condition, the head of the hospital said. A nurse spreading sheets on stretchers told The Associated Press that Russian officials expected "very many" wounded.
It was not immediately clear what led to the events Friday, the third day of the hostage crisis in Beslan. Early reports suggested the militants had agreed to let Russia retrieve the bodies of 10 to 20 hostages who had been killed. A local legislator, Azamat Kadykov, had told the hostages' relatives that 20 adult men had been executed.
Emergency personnel went to get the bodies, and the militants began setting off bombs and opening fire on people around the school, ITAR-Tass said. Some 30 women and children broke out of the building, some bloodied and screaming, and commandos then launched the assault.
The militants reportedly fired at children who ran from the building, and unconfirmed reports said some of the hostage-takers, possibly including women bearing suicide belts, had fled during the chaos and may have taken hostages with them.
During the raid, the militants were separated into three groups some with hostages, police told Interfax.
Women escaping the building were seen fainting and others, some covered in blood, were carried away on stretchers.
Interfax said the school's roof had collapsed possibly from the explosives some militants had strapped to their bodies. The militants reportedly wired parts of the school with bombs and threatened to blow up the building if authorities tried to storm.
There were conflicting reports of the number of hostages being held at the school. Officials had initially said about 350 but some freed hostages among a small group freed Thursday put the number at about 1,500. On Thursday, the militants had freed about 26 hostages, all women and children.
Russian officials had negotiated on and off with the militants since shortly after the crisis began, and they said the hostage-takers had repeatedly refused offers of food and water.
"They are very cruel people, we are facing a ruthless enemy," said Leonid Roshal, a pediatrician involved in the negotiations. "I talked with them many times on my cell phone, but every time I ask to give food, water and medicine to the hostages they refuse my request."
President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) had said that everything possible would be done to end the "horrible" crisis and save the lives of the children.
Two major hostage-taking raids by Chechen rebels outside the war-torn region in the past decade prompted forceful Russian rescue operations that led to many deaths. The most recent, the seizure of a Moscow theater in 2002, ended after a knockout gas was pumped into the building, debilitating the captors but causing almost all of the 129 hostage deaths.
