Beslan Remembers Victims of Russia’s Deadliest Terror Attack 20 Years On
Relatives of the victims of the Beslan school siege gathered Sunday to pay tribute at the ruins of the school, remembering the 330 people, including 186 children, who lost their lives in Russia’s deadliest terror attack.
School bells rang at 9:15 a.m. local time, marking the start of the siege 20 years ago, while mourners laid flowers, lit candles, and placed bottles of water — a tribute to the hostages who were held in inhumane conditions.
On Sept. 1, 2004, militants from Chechnya stormed Beslan School No. 1 in North Ossetia, demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya. Gunmen took 1,100 hostages, including children, parents and teachers who had come to the school to celebrate the start of the new academic year.
For nearly 52 hours, the hostages were held without food or water. Negotiations with the militants were tense and largely unproductive, with the attackers refusing to back down from their demands.
On the third day of the hostage crisis, a series of explosions erupted inside the school, plunging the situation into chaos and triggering an assault by Russian special forces. It remains unknown whether the explosions were accidental detonations or triggered by the militants, who had rigged the school with bombs.
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