Footage shows school siege drama
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-08 13:44

Chilling video from inside the Russian school seized by terrorists last week shows a first-hand glimpse of the horror inside, with hundreds of people huddled in the gymnasium as masked gunmen string up explosives, CNN reported.

At least one woman, dressed from head to toe in black and armed with a pistol, stands guard at a doorway.

Hostages sit below explosives strung from basketball hoops. [AP]

The video, aired Tuesday on Russia's NTV television, appears to have been shot by the terrorists.

It shows wires strung up throughout the gym and explosives hanging from the basketball goals at both ends of the court. Another explosive hangs above the heads of the hostages in the middle of the room.

A man in camouflage fatigues and a camouflage mask appears to be stringing up a large detonator in view of the hostages.

At another point, a masked man is seen with his black boot on a book apparently wired as a detonator. Nearby, a young boy dressed in a white collared shirt and dress pants holds both his hands behind his head with a look of terror on his face.

The hostages shown in the video are men, women and children -- all sitting calmly on the basketball court. A few girls and women are allowed to stand and are seen exiting through a door.

A rocket-propelled grenade, wires and other explosive material can be seen at times, as well as a pile of clothing and shoes.

A red streak of what appears to be blood on the floor is also visible, as if a bleeding body was pulled across the floor.

NTV aired the video, which lasts a little over a minute, during its daily 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) newscast, saying it had exclusive footage from inside the gym.

The network did not give any explanation as to how it obtained the video.

Authorities have said at least 335 hostages were killed when a standoff between troops and the militants came to a bloody end as the terrorists set off the bombs in the gymnasium, where most of the hostages were held, and shot those who tried to flee.

Scores of children were among the hostages who died.

The hostage situation began Wednesday when terrorists seized the school in Beslan, a town in North Ossetia, a small southern republic in the middle of the Caucasus long regarded as an ethnic powder keg.

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of stunned, sad and angry Russians staged a somber demonstration in the nation's capital, protesting and mourning the massacre.

Organized by Russia's powerful trade unions, demonstrators waved signs and listened to speakers outside the Kremlin and just off Red Square. The gathering appeared to some observers to be one of the largest ever held there.

Even though Chechen rebels were believed to be behind the school tragedy, Russian authorities believe the hostage-takers were part of an international band. Officials have said 10 of the terrorists were from Arab countries.

Russian President President Vladimir Putin defended his government's decision to storm the school, saying the hostage-takers had begun shooting children out of boredom.

Conceding it took time to mobilize the rescue operation, he said Russian special forces stormed the school knowing they themselves were likely to be killed.

Putin has criticized Western leaders in the wake of the tragedy for urging Russia to negotiate with Chechen rebels, whom he likened to al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

These are not "freedom fighters," Putin said. "Would you talk with Osama Bin Laden?" he asked. Putin said the Chechen separatists are trying to ignite ethnic tensions in the former Soviet Union and it could have severe repercussions. 

"Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?" the Russian president was quoted as saying by Britain's Guardian newspaper on Tuesday.

A few weeks ago the United States granted asylum to Ilias Akhmadov, the "foreign minister" of the Chechen separatist movement.

"The United States has met with people from Chechnya who had differing points of view, including points of view that differ from the Russian government," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"But we don't meet with terrorists. We don't meet with people who are involved in violence or fomenting violence."

Putin said each time Russia has complained to the Bush administration about meetings held between U.S. officials and Chechen separatist representatives, the U.S. response has been "we'll get back to you" or "we reserve the right to talk with anyone we want."

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