30.08 Beslan: A Deadly Nightmare on the First Day of School

VLADIKAVKAZ, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - Ten years ago, on September 1, 2004, the small, ordinary, town of Beslan in Russia’s North Ossetia suddenly found itself thrust into the spotlight of the entire world, when its school was invaded by terrorists.

It remains unknown why the terrorists, who entered Beslan from the neighboring Russian Republic of Chechnya, chose specifically to target hundreds of innocent children, their parents and teachers. Within mere seconds, the criminals took over 1,200 people hostage, and kept them captive without food or water for three long days.

In Russia, the first of September is the first day of the school year if it falls on a week day. The students of Beslan’s School #1 had assembled with their parents and teachers for the occasion. For hundreds of them, it would mark a turning point, the beginning of an ordeal which would haunt them for the rest of their lives. For 335 of them, the majority of whom were children, it was an ordeal which they would never escape.