Beslan school siege
On 1 September 2004, at about 9.30am local time, masked armed men and women wearing bomb belts stormed School Number One in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia, on the day of a ceremony marking the start of the school year. The BBC timeline says hostages were forced into the school gym and the building was reportedly mined. Officials first estimated 330 hostages, but released hostages later told Russian media that more than 1,000 people might be held. The hostage-takers demanded that Russian troops be withdrawn from Chechnya.
On 3 September, at about 1pm, two loud explosions were heard, followed by heavy sustained gunfire, and Russian special forces stormed the school. BBC Newsnight later reported that 326 people died, 186 of them children. It also reported that only one attacker was jailed and "not a single official found responsible for the attack".
Australian response: the ABC reported that Prime Minister John Howard sent a message of sympathy and condolence to President Vladimir Putin. Howard said: "I think there's a commonality in the obscene indiscriminate indifference, in such a cruel way, to human life." Opposition Leader Mark Latham said: "What sort of people go out of their way to hurt children?" Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia would consider sending a small group of Australian Federal Police with terrorism experience. Russia's ambassador, Leonid Moiseev, said the Canberra embassy had been inundated with calls and emails from Australians. Howard said the local Russian Orthodox community was raising resources.
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