[Former Military Chick]

Very troubling all cable news following this. Rapid fire.

[dennisw]

If numerous hostages are killed, Russia must wipe out the extended family of all Mohammedans involved here.

[beaversmom]

All I've got is MSNBC and they are talking about Koby right now.

[Ros42]

This is just awful, a no win situation!!

[ETERNAL WARMING]

HERE we go; http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/03/russia.school/index.html
'Hostages flee as roof collapses' Freed hostages say 1,000 may be held captive Friday, September 3, 2004 Posted: 5:48 AM EDT (0948 GMT)


BESLAN, Russia (CNN) -- Dozens of hostages have escaped from a school in southern Russia as the school's roof collapsed, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

Several loud explosions and small-arms fire were heard Friday near the school where armed hostage-takers have been holding hundreds of children, parents and teachers.

Interfax said a group of about 30 hostages escaped from the school and quoted authorities as saying the school roof had collapsed.

Russian soldiers were taking up positions around the school, and Russian attack helicopters circled over the area.

The explosions and gunfire came as relatives and journalists were told by authorities to move further back from the school.

"This is horrific, this is precipitating very quickly," CNN's Ryan Chilcote reported from the scene.

Several people wounded by gunfire were carried from the scene and were receiving medical attention, Chilcote said, adding that one of the wounded was a cameraman.

"This is one of the more significant outbreaks of gunfire we've heard," Chilcote said. "Relatives who've been waiting so patiently have begun to break down."

Earlier, Russian officials said hundreds more hostages may be inside the school than first thought.

As the crisis entered its third day Friday, a spokesman for the regional government told CNN an earlier estimate of 350 hostages was low.

Two of 26 hostages freed by their captors on Thursday indicated there were 1,000 children, parents and teachers inside the building in Beslan, near the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya.

Relatives waiting outside the school also have said there could be as many as 1,000 hostages, noting that the school has 11 grades with 75-100 students in each grade.

Asked about the discrepancy with the earlier estimate, the regional government spokesman said officials originally accounted only for those children whose parents reported them missing.

But teachers also were in the school when armed attackers seized the building Wednesday morning.

And many of the children -- especially in the lower grades -- were accompanied by their parents and in some cases entire families for a celebration to mark the start of the school year.

"The situation in school very, very dire," Chilcote said..

"Two of the 26 women and children released yesterday are saying the situation is very bad inside the school's gymnasium where the hostages are being kept.

"At one point the men were separated from the women and children. The men were then brought back into the gymnasium, but there weren't as many of them, and there's no word what happened to the other men."

"There is no food and water. At one point the hostage-takers brought them one cup of water for, as they put it, 1,000 hostages."

Russian officials say they are continuing to talk with the captors by telephone, but so far have failed to convince them to let officials bring water and food inside the school.

Earlier, two loud explosions jolted the area. Authorities said the explosions were caused by grenades fired from hand-held launchers from inside the school.

The hostage-takers told negotiators by cell phone that they fired because they claimed there was troop movement near the building.

Sporadic small arms fire occurred throughout the day, but there had been no shots for several hours before the blasts, which went off around 12:30 a.m. on Friday (2030 GMT Thursday).

Russian troops, tanks and armored vehicles ring the school, beyond which are hundreds of frantic relatives and friends of those trapped inside the building.

The attackers have threatened to kill the children if an assault is launched.

"Our most important task in the current situation is, of course, to save the lives and health of those who were taken hostage," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

Leading the talks was the former president of Ingushetia, Ruslan Aushev, who has entered the school and met face-to-face with the captors. Ingushetia is a Russian republic bordering Chechnya.

Tense negotiations with the hostage-takers saw 26 women and children -- some of them infants -- released from the school Thursday. Security forces in military fatigues carried the children to safety.

"The freeing of 26 is a big victory, but if you look at the whole picture, it is just a drop, there's still a lot of work to be done," said negotiator and pediatrician Leonid Roshal.

Roshal said he has been negotiating with a man by the name of Shai Khu, who has described himself as the group's press attache.

"Unfortunately, they have again refused to receive medicines, food and water for the children," Roshal said. "He calls himself a warrior. I told him warriors don't behave like this."

Roshal was also involved in negotiations with Chechens who seized a Moscow theater in the middle of a performance in October 2002, holding more than 700 people hostage.

One of the requests made of the attackers is that the families of those killed in the initial assault on the school be allowed to remove the bodies of their loved ones from in front of the building.

Authorities said there are seven bodies. Ten others were wounded in the taking of the primary school around 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Officials believe there are between 15 and 20 armed assailants, at least two of whom are women. Some are reported to be wearing explosives-packed belts.

Theater siege The crisis was reminiscent of the October 2002 siege of a Moscow theater, when Chechen rebels threatened to kill their hostages and demanded an end to the war in Chechnya.

Many of those attackers were women, with explosives belts strapped to their body, while the men were armed with pistols and rifles. Two massive bombs also had been placed in the theater.

That standoff ended when Russian forces piped poison gas into the theater to knock out everyone inside, but more than 120 hostages and 41 attackers were killed, most of them from the gas.

The current standoff follows a bloody week in Russia. A female suicide bomber killed nine people outside a Moscow subway station Tuesday, and two suspected Chechen female suicide bombers downed two airliners on August 24, killing all 89 people aboard the planes.

Russian officials have said the new wave of attacks is an attempt at revenge for last weekend's elections in Chechnya in which a Kremlin-backed candidate won the presidency.

Beslan is 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Vladikavkaz in southern Russia, which borders Chechnya.

[TomGuy]

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.

[TomGuy]

Just watching live...saw a young teen (about 13 or 14) getting in a vehicle. He was naked. Saw a man earlier holding a young boy maybe 3 or 4 years old. Child was naked. Older man (20ish-30ish) naked.

The terrorists must have had the hostaged stripped. No food for 3 days.

Fox\News 158 taken to hospital.

Both soldiers and terrorists may have caused explosions. Soldiers blasts to open up walls for easy access.

Machine gun fire ongoing live now.

Building wired with booby traps.

[TomGuy]

Loud explosions ongoing.

Camera angle only shows rising smoke over an area of trees.

Gym was wired with explosives throughout.

Ongoing machine gun fire are the school.

2 female terrorists may have escaped toward rail area. They were using hostages as shields.

RPG and bigger. Explosions. Surrounding buildings may be were terrorists escaped to and are firing at soldiers. Solldiers may be the ones setting off some of the explosions.

Heavy gunbattle in progress. Parents, children, (there were some 500 inside the school) still coming out and trying to leave area. Havoc and hectic scene. Some terrorists (not inside the school) may have infiltrated into the crowd on the outside waiting.

5 militants killed (so far).

School is relatively in the middle of the city.

[TomGuy]

FoxNews commentaries--Russians typically botch such hostage situations.

[There is not quick and clean way to deal with hostage situations like this.]

[TomGuy]

FoxNews now reporting that all the hostages that were still inside are now out of the building.

Explosions may be soldiers setting off those bombs that were wired inside the building.

[TomGuy]

Terrorists who escaped are hold-up in a house (with some hostages). Military/police are engaging them. Battle is going.

[TomGuy]

I hope each terrorist captured gets to spend 5 minutes with each parent affected, and the parent is completely unrestrained.

They need to have a public execution using some of Saddam & Sons' techniques. Yes it is savage to say so.....but civilization is dealing with savage barbarians who are perpetrating these atrocities.

This is a world war for civilization, and the sooner the world leaders recognize it, the soon they were unite to eradicate those bent on destroying our civilization.

[RadioAstronomer]

I was watching also this morning. Heart breaking. :-(

[TomGuy]

Dana Lewis on FoxNews: Terrorists actually fired at children/hostages as they (both terrorists and children/teachers) escaped when the military started the engagement earlier.

Many children/hostages were caught in the crossfire between terrorists and soldiers.

[TomGuy]

FoxNews reporting at least 5 children were killed. Dana Lewis expects that number to rise.

150 persons who were inside are unaccounted for.

Was 2.5 hours of heavy gun battles.

Battle at house where terrorists went has been silent for the last 20 minutes. [Everyone inside that house may be dead. They may have had hostages inside--who were shields as they fled the school.]

Another set of terrorists may have escaped toward the train station.

[TomGuy]

Dana Lewis, FoxNews:

Sad

Many children may be dead inside because they could not run fast enough and were burned to death.

Soldier waved off a parent and told the parent not to come any closer--it was a bad scene inside.

Up to 160 or more are unaccounted for and may be dead inside.

This may be even a more vicious atrocity if that many are dead.

[DCBryan1]

I think this pictures are appropriate together. This could happen here:

Pray for the victims, and then pray for retribution.

I'm so mad right now, I'm gonna get banned and probably visited by "suits" if I say anything else.

[JustPiper]

Timeline I compiled from my email:

9/2 10:13pm
BESLYAN, Russia (AP) Two new accounts say there are at least 1,000 hostages being held captive at a school in souther Russia.

9/3 2:24am
MOSCOW (AP) Russia's NTV television reports two explosions near a school in southern Russia, followed by gunfire and soldiers rushing toward the building.

2:27am
MOSCOW (AP) The Interfax news agency is reporting that a group of hostages has broken out of a school in southern Russia.

2:37am
BESLAN, Russia (AP) The Interfax news agency is reporting that the school roof has collapsed and militants are shelling and firing from the building.

2:46am
FNC: BLASTS, GUNFIRE HEARD AT RUSSIA SCHOOL WHERE CHECHEN TERRORISTS HOLD HUNDREDS HOSTAGE; REPORTS SAY ROOF COLLAPSED AFTER EXPLOSIONS

3:22am
MOSCOW (AP) The Interfax news agency says Russian commandos have taken control of most of the school in southern Russia.

4:27am
BESLAN, Russia (AP) Interfax news agency reports that all hostages have been evacuated from school gymnasium.

4:35am
BESLAN, Russia (AP) The ITAR-Tass news agency says that most of some 200 wounded hostages taken to hospitals are children

4:54am
BESLAN, Russia (AP) Regional emergency officials say 250 hostages have been wounded, including 180 children, during gunfire and explosions at a school.

5:04am
MOSCOW (AP) The Interfax news agency says at least five children have been killed in the shooting and explosions at the seized school in southern Russia.

5:28am
BESLAN, Russia (AP) The ITAR-Tass news agency says at least seven people were killed in the school hostage violence

5:52am
BESLAN, Russia (AP) The regional president says the hostage-takers at a seized school had demanded Russian troops leave Chechnya.

6:23am
BESLAN, Russia (AP) The Interfax news agency says dozens of people have been killed in the collapse of the roof at a school where hostages were held.

7:03am
MOSCOW (AP) The Interfax news agency reports that the bodies of more than 100 hostages have been found in the school gym in southern Russia.

8:03am
MOSCOW (AP) The Interfax new agency reports that three militants remain blockaded in the basement of the school, possibly including head hostage-taker.

8:24am
MOSCOW (AP) The regional Russian Federal Security Service chief says some hostages are still being held in school standoff.

8:35am
MOSCOW (AP) A Russian presidential aide says nine militants killed in hostage crisis were Arab mercenaries, according to the Interfax news agency.

8:42am
MOSCOW (AP) The Interfax news agency cites a Russian presidential aide as saying the death toll in school hostage crisis could be significantly more than 150.

9:14am
BESLAN, Russia (AP) The ITAR-Tass news agency reports that a strong explosion has gone off in the school building where hostages had been held.

11am
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) President Bush calls Russia hostage siege "another grim reminder" of the lengths to which terrorists will go.