“and after 40 days [the Orthodox Christian mourning period] … they will take up weapons and seek revenge” FoxNews quotes Alan Kargiyev, a 20-year-old university student in the regional capital Vladikavkaz. In the aftermath of the two-day hostage situation in Beslan, Russian president Putin has closed the Ossetian border. I expect this is only his first action in response to what I believe will be seen as Russia’s 9/11.
The beginning of the tragic end of the crisis came when two large explosions were heard from the school buildings. Sky News reports:
“Bombs were strung all over the gym,” one teenage girl told state television. “Tape came unstuck on one and it blew up.”
“There were two big explosions,” said a women in her forties.
“We started pushing all the children out of the windows… Everyone who was there started pushing them out.”
Authorities said they had been forced to launch a rescue operation when the gunmen opened fire on fleeing children.
After the explosions Utro.ru reports that the storming of the school building began when fathers of the hostages rushed the building. Russian Interior Ministry forces followed after.
Official casualty reports place the number of dead at over 300, the number of wounded around 700. These numbers will be very hard to stomach, particularly after the government had previously placed the total number of hostages at around 350.
Gazeta.ru reports that the resources of the town of Beslan are not adequate to the need in the crisis. The telephone system is swamped by people trying to get word of relatives. In a scene that is familiar to Americans after 9/11, relatives search message boards to learn if loved ones are wounded, missing, or dead (right). International Red Cross and official Russian medical support are coming in from outside the town. 46 psychologists are being brought in to help the survivors and their families cope with the nearly unimaginable grief.
Lenty.ru has a complete timeline (in Russian).
UPDATE: According to Gazeta.ru the number of dead has risen to 330. Times of India reports that one fleeing terrorist was lynched by angry townspeople. (Hat tip: QandO)
I am curious to know what the US protocol would be for an incident as such as we do not bargain with terrorists. It would behoove our president, our nation, and our citizens to take this horrific event for a positive turn and use it to plan policy for our own homeland security because it *can* happen here. Nothing will replace the lives lost in Beslan, but we can save others with what we have learned there.
Chaille,
Would our “planning” as a result of Beslan include appeasement and negotiating with terrorists?