Posted on 09/03/2004 2:45:31 AM PDT by kattracks
BESLAN, Russia - A group of about 30 women and children broke out of a school in southern Russia where militants were holding hundreds of people captive Friday, a news agency reported, after two loud explosions were heard and Russian commandos opened fire near the building.The Interfax news agency said that the school's roof had collapsed and militants were shelling and firing from the building. Interfax said the hostages who broke out of the school included women and children. It was impossible to immediately verify the reports.
Two helicopters hovered overhead. An ambulance rushed from the scene and CNN reported that at least two people were wounded. On Thursday, the militants inside the school had released some 26 of the hundreds of hostages held inside the building since Wednesday.
By Richard Ayton
BESLAN, Russia (Reuters) - Hostages ran screaming amid explosions and automatic fire from a Russian school on Friday where hundreds of children and adults had been seized by an armed group demanding Chechen independence.
Russian news agencies said a group of hostages had escaped, and a Reuters correspondent saw soldiers carrying children away from the school, some of them covered in blood, as ambulances sped to the scene and military helicopters circled overhead.
The Interfax news agency said the school's roof had collapsed, according to authorities, and that 30 hostages had been rescued.
It was not clear what had triggered the battle, a few hours after Russia insisted it would not resort to force to free the children, parents and teachers being held for a third day without food or water.
Officials said some 500 people were being held in the school in North Ossetia, near Chechnya (news - web sites), but released hostages said the number could be nearer 1,500, lying on top of each other in increasingly desperate conditions.
Alexander Dzasokhov, president of the province of North Ossetia, said the 40 or so masked gunmen were demanding an independent Chechnya, the first clear link between them and the decade-long separatist rebellion in the neighboring province.
But he tried to reassure hundreds of fraught parents who spent the night near the school in the town of Beslan, telling reporters: "I tell you frankly and honestly ... the option of force is not being considered."
Reports from some of the women and children released on Thursday painted a grim picture.
"You know, there aren't 350 people (the previous official number) in there, but 1,500 in all. People are lying one on top of another," Zalina Dzandarova, a 27-year-old woman, told the daily Kommersant.
One unidentified woman freed on Thursday told Izvestia that during the night children occasionally began to cry:
"Then the fighters would fire in the air to restore quiet. In the morning they told us they would not give us anything more to drink because the authorities were not ready to negotiate.
"When children went to the toilet, some tried to drink from the tap. The fighters stopped them straight away."
Dzasokhov said the captors had made their demands in talks on Thursday with Ruslan Aushev, a moderate former leader of nearby Ingushetia province, who has taken on a mediating role.
"The demands relayed to Aushev yesterday ... were that Chechnya must be an independent state," he said.
WAVE OF ATTACKS
The school siege is the latest in a wave of violent attacks in Russia in recent weeks, all linked to Chechen separatists.
Last week, suicide bombers were blamed for the near-simultaneous crash of two passenger planes in which 90 people died. And this week, in central Moscow a suicide bomber blew herself up, killing nine people.
Russian media have speculated that the gunmen could belong to separatist forces under field commander Magomed Yevloyev, an Ingush who is believed to have led a mass assault on Ingushetia in June.
With the clock ticking for President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) to end the crisis, security experts warned of a possible bloody end.
Putin, who came to power in 2000 vowing to "wipe out" Chechen militants, pledged to do all he could to save the hostages.
But he has refused any suggestion of a compromise on Chechnya remaining part of Russia. Previous ends to hostage crises have ended in huge loss of life.
Izvestia said 860 pupils attended School No.1 in Beslan. But the number of people on the campus would have been swollen by parents and relatives attending the first-day ceremony traditional in Russian schools.
Up to 16 people are believed to have been killed in the early stages of the assault.
Dzandarova said the masked gang struck at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, shooting into the air.
"Everybody, parents and children, ran in panic into the school building," she said, adding that the attackers killed people left in the school yard and those who resisted.
Two women assailants blew themselves up in a corridor, killing a number of male hostages. Hostages were later herded into the school gym, where the captors booby-trapped the basketball hoops, an unidentified mother told Izvestiya.
Dzandarova added: "They took some of the injured out of the gym and finished them off right there in the corridor."
The unnamed mother said the captors were well organized: "None of the terrorists removed their masks. Nobody can see their faces. They aren't tired. They are resting in turns."
(Additional reporting by Oliver Bullough)
ABC reporting an escalation or possible violent conclusion to the standoff.
"When children went to the toilet, some tried to drink from the tap. The fighters stopped them straight away."
These terrorists will burn in hell for all eternity. These people are disgusting.
I will respect President Putin's decision on this matter even if he chooses to be restrained. But I would hope that he takes drastic action regardless of how this ends. It's time for a real lesson, one that no terrorist anywhere on earth will soon forget. I'm thinking in glowing terms of what the Russian military forces should do next.
"When children went to the toilet, some tried to drink from the tap. The fighters stopped them straight away."
See what kind of 'people'we are fighting against!
I would assume that because they are for a "free Chechnya" that they are from Islam, but I have not confirmed that.
They must be good students of history. After all, aren't they emulating the winter in Valley Forge when George Washington and his freedom fighters held the population of Valley Forge Schools hostage for the freedom of America?
I pray that some of these people get out, but I fear there is going to be a bloodbath.
MOSCOW - Heavy gunfire broke out at a school where militants were holding hundreds of people hostage Friday, after three powerful explosions hit the area and about 30 hostages fled.
The Interfax news agency said Russian commandos had stormed the school. Soldiers shepherded children away, several of them wounded and on stretchers. Many of the children were only partly clothed because of the stifling heat in the gymnasium where they had been held since the militants took the building Wednesday.
Interfax said that the school's roof had collapsed ? possibly from the explosives some militants had strapped to their bodies. It had earlier reported that a group of about 30 women and children broke out of the school, after massive explosions and gunfire were heard. Two helicopters hovered overhead.
On Thursday, the militants had freed about 26 hostages, all women and children, and Russian officials had been in negotiations with the militants since they had seized the building Wednesday.
There were conflicting reports of the number of hostages, with official saying about 350 and people among a small group freed on Wednesday saying there were about 1,500.
By Richard Ayton
BESLAN, Russia (Reuters) - Russian soldiers battled Chechen separatists on Friday to end a two-day-old school siege as naked children ran out screaming amid explosions and machinegun fire.
A Reuters correspondent saw soldiers carrying children away from the school, some covered in blood, as military helicopters circled overhead and ambulances ferried wounded hostages away, all to the sound of continuous gunfire.
Witnesses said troops had entered the school, whose roof had partly collapsed, according to officials quoted by Interfax. The Tass news agency reported that some 40 children had been evacuated from the school by 1:50 p.m. (0550 EDT).
Interfax news agency reported that some of the group of hostage-takers, believed to number about 40, had tried to break out through crowds of frantic relatives waiting near the school as Russian special forces moved in.
Others reported soldiers firing on fleeing gunmen.
Officials had said some 500 people were being held in the school in North Ossetia, near Chechnya (news - web sites), but released hostages said the number could be nearer to 1,500, lying on top of each other in increasingly desperate conditions.
Children, some half-naked, drank heavily from bottles of water after two days without drink.
Some children lay on stretchers.
It was unclear what had triggered the battle, a few hours after Russia insisted it would not resort to force to free the children, parents and teachers being held for a third day without food or water.
Alexander Dzasokhov, president of the province of North Ossetia, said the 40 or so masked gunmen were demanding an independent Chechnya, the first clear link between them and the decade-long separatist rebellion in the neighboring province.
But he tried to reassure hundreds of fraught parents who spent the night near the school in the town of Beslan, telling reporters: "I tell you frankly and honestly ... the option of force is not being considered."
Reports from some of the women and children released on Thursday painted a grim picture.
"You know, there aren't 350 people (the previous official number) in there, but 1,500 in all. People are lying one on top of another," Zalina Dzandarova, a 27-year-old woman, told the daily Kommersant.
CHILDREN CRYING
One unidentified woman freed on Thursday told Izvestia that during the night children occasionally began to cry:
"Then the fighters would fire in the air to restore quiet. In the morning they told us they would not give us anything more to drink because the authorities were not ready to negotiate.
"When children went to the toilet, some tried to drink from the tap. The fighters stopped them straight away."
Dzasokhov said the captors had made their demands in talks on Thursday with Ruslan Aushev, a moderate former leader of nearby Ingushetia province, who has taken on a mediating role.
"The demands relayed to Aushev yesterday ... were that Chechnya must be an independent state," he said.
The school siege is the latest in a wave of violent attacks in Russia in recent weeks, all linked to Chechen separatists.
Last week, suicide bombers were blamed for the near-simultaneous crash of two passenger planes in which 90 people died. This week, in central Moscow a suicide bomber blew herself up, killing nine people.
Russian media have speculated that the gunmen could belong to separatist forces under field commander Magomed Yevloyev, an Ingush who is believed to have led a mass assault on Ingushetia in June.
With the clock ticking for President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) to end the crisis, security experts warned of a possible bloody end.
Putin, who came to power in 2000 vowing to "wipe out" Chechen militants, pledged to do all he could to save the hostages.
But he refused any suggestion of a compromise on Chechnya remaining part of Russia. Previous ends to hostage crises have ended in huge loss of life.
Izvestia said 860 pupils attended School No.1 in Beslan. But the number of people on the campus would have been swollen by parents and relatives attending the first-day ceremony traditional in Russian schools.
Up to 16 people were believed to have been killed in the early stages of the assault.
(Additional reporting by Oliver Bullough)
religion of peace
religion of peace
religion of peace
religion of peace
at some point it is supposed to become believable.
Fox reporting 5 militants killed, others have escaped. Unconfirmed.
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian special forces have stormed the school where hundreds are being held hostage, the Interfax agency reported, citing the local crisis cell.
Rebels were trying to leave the Russian school where hundreds are being held hostage, pursued by soldiers, the agency said.
Moments earlier, the roof of the Russian school where hundreds are being held hostage caved in.
Special forces have been forced to act in view of developments around the school.
Earlier, a group of hostages escaped from the school, news agencies said, and adults were seen carrying children to nearby cars following three explosions in the area.
Six loud explosions could be heard outside the school within the space of about 15 minutes, and shortly afterwards it was reported that some hostages had escaped.
Keep in mind : for terror governments trying to destroy Russia, the chechen terrorists are their most valuable asset.
. . and wishing we could fight at their side.
Fox reporting five or more militants have escaped.
Fox reporting five or more militants have escaped
They wont't get far.
What an horrific event. I'm very sad. Putin has been to the UN MANY, MANY times asking for help. But to no avail!!
FoxNews 20-24 bodies. Part of gym roof caved in. Some terrorists escaped while holding hostages. 160 children/adults (from inside the school) injured.
2 explosions.
Going on right now.
Gunfire ongoing.
5-6 terrorists may have escaped.
This is horrifying.
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