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School hostages: 31 freed
02/09/2004 17:31 - (SA)
Beslan - Heavily-armed militants released 31 women and children on Thursday from the provincial Russian school where they are holding more than 350 hostages for the second straight day, officials said.
An official at the headquarters for the rescue operation reported that 26 women and children were released in one group, and that another group included three women and two children.
Lev Dzugayev, an aide to the president of the North Ossetia region, confirmed the release. His first announcement of releases brought gasps from a huge crowd of relatives and townspeople pressing against barricades sorrounding the school.
Dzugayev called the releases "the first success" and expressed hope for further progress. He said the releases came after mediation by Ruslan Aushev, a veteran of the Soviet Union's Afghan war and former president of the neighbouring Ingushetia republic who is a respected figure in Russia's troubled North Caucasus region.
The releases came amid heightened tension after two powerful explosions roared out in the afternoon, followed by a plume of black smoke rising from the vicinity of the school. The rescue operation's headquarters said militants in the school fired grenade launchers at two cars that had apparently driven too close to the building.
The crisis headquarters said neither car was hit, but reporters said they saw a gutted car about 100m from the school.
In the early evening, a series of heavy thuds that sounded like artillery could be heard, apparently coming from an area northwest of the town. The sound persisted for about 15 minutes.
Earlier on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin pledged to do everything possible to save the lives of the hostages. The militants had reportedly threatened to blow up the building if authorities stormed it, and warned that they would kill hostages if any of their gang was hurt or injured.
In his first public remarks since the Wednesday morning hostage-taking, Putin said: "Our main task is, of course, to save the life and health of those who became hostages."
As negotiators scrambled to find a way out of the standoff, crowds of distraught relatives and townspeople waited helplessly for news of their neighbours and loved ones, their distress sharpened by the sporadic rattle of gunfire from the cordoned-off crisis site.
But as talks via phone continued on-and-off throughout the night and morning, details about who the militants are and what they wanted remained unclear.
Well-known paediatrician Leonid Roshal, who aided hostages during the deadly seizure of a Moscow theatre by Chechens in 2002, led the nighttime talks. NTV television reported that Roshal, whose participation the militants had demanded, conveyed to the hostage-takers the promise of a safe corridor out, but the offer was refused.
Heavily-armed militants wearing masks descended on the school shortly after 09:00 on the opening day of the new school year Wednesday. Dzugayev said 354 people were seized.
Little was known about food and sanitary condition inside the school; offers to deliver food and water to the hostages were turned down, adding to the distress of the more than 2 000 waiting relatives and friends outside.
Valery Andreyev, the federal security service's chief in North Ossetia, said that some of the militants had been identified, and investigators were attempting to find their relatives and bring them to the school to help in negotiations.
How the police could end the standoff without a storming was unclear, but Andreyev told the ITAR-Tass news agency that "there is no alternative to dialogue".
"One should expect long and tense negotiations," he was quoted as saying.
- AP
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