Russia's hostage crisis came to a chaotic climax yesterday, erupting into explosions, gunfire and screams of fleeing children as commandos stormed the school where militants strapped with bombs had held hundreds of captives for a third day. More than 100 people were killed and 400 others wounded, reports said.
Some 100 bodies lay on the floor of the school gymnasium where the hostages were held for three days -- some apparently killed when the roof collapsed, reports from the Interfax news agency and private British television ITN said.
Russian forces killed five of the hostage-takers but 13 others escaped, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. Troops backed by tanks were pursuing the militants, some of whom were said to be holed up in a house in the area as others attempted to blend in with the former hostages and crowd of townspeople in Beslan, ITAR-Tass said.
Police said the hostage-takers had split into three groups during the storming, which appears to have been unplanned. Some of them remained in the school, others apparently sought to escape southward in the town and others tried to mix in with the hostages, the Interfax news agency reported.
Russian authorities claimed to have control of the school, but sporadic gunfire continued to ring out in the area some three hours after the commandos' raid.
Regional president Alexander Dzasokhov said the hostage-takers had demanded that Russian troops leave Chechnya -- the first clear indication of their demands and of a direct link between Wednesday's attack in the region of North Ossetia and the ongoing war in the neighboring region.
In a chaotic scene around the school, hundreds of people ran through the streets, columns of smoke soared overhead and the cries of children -- many of them naked -- and the wounded filled the air. An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances speeding by, the windows streaked with blood.
Commandos, residents and journalists scurried around the burning brick school. Some camouflage-clad soldiers climbed inside through a lower floor window, all the glass missing. The militants had broken most of the windows earlier in what might have been an effort to prevent authorities from using a knockout gas against them.
Part of the building's roof had collapsed -- apparently killing many of the hostages and leaving a jagged opening to the sky, Interfax said.
More than 400 others, hostages and local residents, were injured in the chaos, reports said. A cameraman for private British television ITN reported catching a glimpse of some 100 bodies inside the gymnasium.
A regional health ministry spokesman said there were 376 wounded in hospitals in Beslan and the regional capital Vladikavkaz, including 101 children. A hospital chief said 69 children were admitted to one hospital, five in grave condition, the head of the hospital said.
At a hospital about a mile from the school, anguished crowds mobbed arriving ambulances in a desperate bid to see who was inside.
Also see story:
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft