Posted on 09/02/2004 9:52:10 AM PDT by anonymoussierra
After a sleepless night, the panic is beginning to show among the parents and relatives waiting for news from the besieged school in Beslan.
In a nearby building, women who have spent the night crying wander red-eyed past doctors and psychologists, while the men sit clutching enormous cups of coffee.
Sudden bursts of gunfire and the occasional explosion send ripples of fear through the crowd.
The situation remains extremely tense and unpredictable, with the hostage-takers refusing to allow any food into the school, reports the BBC's Sarah Rainsford, who is at the scene.
"I think this firing is just a mind game," Rita Botsayeva told the Reuters news agency. "They are showing us they are alive and well."
Russian authorities have ruled out using force to free the hundreds of schoolchildren, parents and teachers being held hostage by suspected Chechen rebels.
They say the gunshots and blasts are all coming from the rebels, eager to demonstrate they are armed and dangerous.
'Too late for school'
Reports say life in the little town of Beslan has come to a halt, converging around the metal barriers the police are using to keep the public away from the school.
"Being together makes it easier to cope with fear," said a correspondent from a Russian TV station, NTV Mir, reporting on how relatives and friends of those being held in the school spent the night in the nearby Hall of Culture.
Angela Khugayeva, a 26-year-old woman, told Reuters, "We are all relatives. Brothers, cousins or uncles. The whole town feels this."
Those outside look back on how inconsequential events on Wednesday led to loved ones being spared - or ensnared - in the crisis.
"Can you imagine, I have a child who yesterday didn't eat anything and rushed to school, all dressed up. But my daughter was too late for school," a woman called Luda told Reuters, as she waited to hear of her son - a hostage inside the building.
While officials emerging from the police barricade are mobbed for the latest news, reports say the relatives are not talking to the soldiers and security teams poised outside the school - they are keen not to distract them.
Moscow comparisons
The people of Beslan are full of questions - why have they been targeted? By whom? They complain officials are not keeping them informed.
"No one tells us anything," a distraught relative said. "Some people say the terrorists are Chechens. Some people say they are Arabs. But we don't know."
Some of those waiting outside the school are looking back to an earlier hostage crisis in Moscow in 2002, which ended with the deaths of some 120 theatre-goers and rebels.
"We keep comparing this to the theatre siege," a lady told the BBC's Sarah Rainsford.
"But here they're not giving the hostages food. They're just not human," she said.
Thank you.
Thank you America friend.
Does this not show more than ever that the terrorists are evil demons. I pray for those poor children and their parents and family. I can imagine how terrified and frustrated they are.
BTTT
Alot of prayers are being said for these folks!
Prayer bump.
I'm sure nobody will get hurt. After all, Islam is a religion of peace.
President Bush is committed to the War on Terror-and that's why even former opponents are working to reelect him for four more years.
Prayers for the hostages and their families.
bump
Thank you America persons. Devil persons atack children I want that devil persons dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Russia be strong!
"Prayers for the hostages and their families."
Thank you.
My prayers have been repeating for those poor kids, and will continue until they are free. God help them.
At this point, there is almost no act of brutality that Putin and Russia could do in response that I would oppose. Get those children home safely, and then ensure that this can never happen again... by destroying any who would ever consider it.
I think a lot of people want those devil persons dead. Our prayers are with those hostages in the school and their families on the outside.
I'm sure that the US, Poland, and the other LEADERS of this War have offered the Russians any assistance necessary to save the innocent people threatened by these animals. Pray hard. Pray often.
When fighting evil, we all speak the same language. Everyone here knows exactly what is in your heart, and we are fighting to rid the earth of these wastes of human flesh. I'm glad Poland, who spent so many years under the thumb of evil regimes, is with us. You are a good people.
Prayer bump
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