At least 200 people are now confirmed dead and over 700 injured after troops stormed a school in southern Russia this morning, ending a three-day seige by Chechen rebels.
A total of 95 bodies have been formally identified. Many of those killed were children. Emergency officials said 704 people had been admitted to hospital, including 229 children. Many were being treated for burns.
Troops moved in at around 10 a.m. Irish time on the school in North Ossetia where an armed gang were holding up to 1,500 parents, teachers and children.
Russian television reported that a female suicide bomber set off her explosives and sparked Russian forces into action and sent hostages fleeing through a large hole in one of the school's walls. The roof of the school's gymnasium also collapsed, according to reports.
A Russian army spokesman said the storming of the building was not planned. He said rebels began firing on a group of escaping hostages during the operation. "In order to save lives we also opened fire," a spokesman told reporters at the scene. "Local people with arms also started to open fire."
Dozens of hostages, some naked and covered in blood, streamed out of the school where up to 1,500 people had been held captive since Wednesday by the rebels.
Shooting and explosions continued for hours after the initial assault.
Some of the hostages-takers are believed to have made their way to a nearby railroad and were condcuting a running battle with Russian troops. Other reports suggest some hostage-takers escaped dressed in civilian clothing.
One news agency reported that a group of hostage-takers was holed up in a detached building in the school compound and exchanging fire with Russian forces. It quoted soldiers as saying at least 20 of the militants had been killed, with ten of them being Arabs.
It has been reported that Russian security services have captured three of the hostage-takers alive. "Several fighters have been seized but most of them were killed and I doubt any of them managed to flee," an army commander whose forces took part in the operation, told Russian television.
Four raiders are still being sought, the Russian school crisis coordination centre said.
The gang took control of the school in Beslan 10 miles from Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia on Wednesday.
Hostages freed yesterday said as many as 1,500 may have been inside the building, far above the official figure of 350. The witnesses, among 26 women and infants released yesterday, said the group of up to 40 heavily armed captors was refusing to give hostages food and water.
"You know, there aren't 350 people in there, but 1,500 in all. People are lying one on top of another," said Ms Zalina Dzandarova (27) told the newspaper, Kommersant. The Gazeta quoted a woman saying there were 1,020 hostages.
Agencies