Parents, relatives, teachers and survivors have gathered for a three-day memorial vigil to mourn the 334 victims, mostly children, who perished in the Islamist-inspired school massacre 15 years ago in Beslan, South Ossetia.
Dressed in black, dozens of mourners flocked to the city’s School No1, where the major event was held. Some burst into tears while others just stood still, observing a chilling calm in what used to be the school gym, where terrorists held almost 1,200 people hostage 15 years ago.
Now, its walls are decorated with toys and lit candles, as well as the photographs of those who didn’t get out alive. At the vigil, people laid down fresh flowers at a large cross, installed by the authorities of the largely Christian region.
In the schoolyard, the bell rang to mark September 1 – a nationwide holiday that spells the start of each school year but, in Beslan, also a day of grief and mourning.
In 2004, a group of Islamist Chechen militants sneaked into the town amid celebrations devoted to the beginning of the school year and took children, their parents and teachers hostage, herding them into the school gym.
Some managed to escape or hide in the school’s boiler room, but most of the attendees were brutally forced into the gym which quickly turned into a fortress. The terrorists planted explosives all over the place, installed machine gun pits to anticipate a potential anti-terrorist operation and crushed all pipes to deprive the hostages of water.
The captives were held inside the hall for 54 hours, suffering from heat, thirst and shock, and even forbidden from using toilets.
The authorities were trying to hold negotiations with the terrorists, who were demanding the independence of Russia’s republic of Chechnya among other things. The president of neighboring Ingushetia and Afghan War veteran Ruslan Aushev persuaded them to release 26 breastfeeding mothers and their babies.
The standoff ended up in chaos when two blasts rocked the gym, followed by multiple shots inside and outside the building. Caught by surprise, Russia’s elite counter-terrorist units –‘Alfa’ and ‘Vympel’– rushed towards the school, making entry from different directions.
The Beslan attack, which saw 334 people killed, of whom 318 were hostages, is still remembered as one of the bloodiest tragedies in Russia’s modern history.
