Posted on 10/28/2002 11:05:47 PM PST by Destro
28 Oct 2002 16:53
Gas used in Moscow siege may have been BZ
LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The gas used to end the Moscow theatre siege, which killed more than 100 hostages as well as their captors, may have been BZ, a London security expert said on Monday.
The Russian government has so far refused to name the gas which special troops pumped into the theatre on Saturday to knock out the Chechen rebels holding around 800 hostages.
Top Moscow doctors say that of 117 hostages who perished, only two died of gunshot wounds and the rest of gas poisoning. Of 646 people still in hospital on Sunday, 150 were in intensive care, 45 of them in a "grave condition", they said.
London security expert Michael Yardley said the gas used may have been BZ a colourless incapacitant with hallucinogenic properties.
DESCRIPTION - BZ denotes the hydrochloride salt of 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate. It is a colourless, odourless incapacitant.
EXPOSURE - Inhalation is the most likely route. It may be disseminated in aerosol form, from solutions, pyrotechnically or as a pre-sized powder.
The human median lethal dose is estimated to be in the range of 35-225 mg for a 70 kg individual.
EFFECTS - Acts on the peripheral autonomic and central nervous systems resulting in loss of motor coordination, memory loss, fainting, dry mouth, irregular heartbeats, nausea, vomiting, hallucinations.
Symptoms are time and dose dependent. Cumulative effects possible following repeated exposures.
According to the U.S. army the side effects last 60 hours.
PREVIOUS USE - First used by U.S. forces in Vietnam, BZ group gases were also believed to have been used by Serb forces against Kosovo Albanians in 1999.
(Some information is taken from draft annexe 3 to World Health Organisation publication "Public health response to biological and chemical weapons: WHO guidance" www.who.int/emc/pdfs/DraftAnnex3WS.pdf)
Regards.
Russia announces gas used in theater rescueOct. 30 — After much international criticism for its secrecy, Russia on Wednesday confirmed U.S. suspicions that the gas used in the storming of a Moscow theater where Chechen gunmen held hundreds of hostages was based on Fentanyl, a fast-acting opiate with medical applications. ...
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