BESLAN, Russia – The three-day hostage siege at a school in southern Russia ended in chaos and bloodshed Friday, after witnesses said Chechen militants set off bombs and Russian commandos stormed the building. Hostages fled in terror, many of them children who were half-naked and covered in blood. Officials estimated the death toll at more than 250.
Early today, 531 people remained hospitalized, including 283 children – 92 of the youngsters in “very grave” condition, health officials said.
Sixty-two hours after the hostage drama began during a celebration marking the first day of the school year, the Russian government said resistance had ended.
Valery Andreyev, Russia’s Federal Security Service chief in the region, said 10 Arabs were among 27 militants who were killed. The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing security sources, reported the hostage-taking was the work of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who had al-Qaida backing.
The Interfax news agency said more than 200 people were killed. The figure could not be confirmed. Reporters said they had seen at least 100 bodies in the school gym.
Under a grove of trees outside the school, white sheets covered dead bodies, including those of children, on lines of stretchers. Grieving parents and loved ones knelt beside the dead, some of whom were awaiting identification. Nearby, anxious crowds gathered around lists of injured posted on the walls of the hospital buildings.
Russian authorities said they stormed the building after the militants set off explosions and fired shots as emergency teams approached to collect the bodies of several men killed earlier. They said the hostage-takers had given them permission to take the corpses away. Witnesses quoted by Russian media said the militants opened fire on fleeing hostages and then began to escape themselves.
A hostage who escaped told said the militants numbered 28, including women wearing camouflage uniforms.
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