Mourning On Second Anniversary Of Moscow Theatre Siege

(26 Oct 2004)

26 October 2004
1. Exterior of theatre
2. People outside theatre holding flowers
3. People laying flowers at memorial
4. Woman placing candle by wreath
5. People laying flowers
6. Woman wiping tears from her eyes
7. Makeshift memorial with photos and flowers on ground
8. Close up of photo of victim with candles and flowers
9. Woman in black laying candle near her son's photo
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Ekaterina, mother of son who was killed in siege:
"He died only because he wasn't given the correct medical aid in time. Everything was done badly and the bureaucrats don't want to admit their mistakes."

FILE - October 2002
11. Exterior of theatre UPSOUND: Explosions
12. Sign of the musical being played the night of the siege: "Nord-Ost"
13. Wounded and injured being carried on stretchers shot through window from a distance

26 October 2004
14. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Svetlana, mourner at the memorial:
"We aren't the only ones to suffer. After us so many others have suffered. How can we consider ourselves protected? First there was the metro bomb, then the airfield and now the school in Beslan. How can we think ourselves protected. Of course we're not at all."
15. Priest praying UPSOUND: Singing
16. Woman laying candle at memorial
17. Pull out from flowers with photos to priest praying
18. Close up of two photos of victims
19. Woman crying

STORYLINE:

Two years after a bloody hostage-taking at a Moscow theatre, survivors and victims' relatives on Tuesday commemorated the tragedy that left 130 victims of the attack and 41 hostage-takers dead.

Weeping relatives lit candles and laid flowers at the memorial plaque bearing the names of victims and an Orthodox priest conducted a remembrance service.

On October 23, 2002, Chechen raiders seized the theatre during the second act of the musical "Nord-Ost".

They took approximately 800 people hostage, demanding that Russian authorities end the war in Chechnya.

For the next 58 hours, men with automatic rifles and women dressed in black robes with explosives strapped around their waists stood watch. A huge bomb was rigged in the hall.

The hostage siege lasted three days before Russian special services stormed the theatre, pumping it full of gas.

More than 700 people were injured during the operation.

Russian special forces pumped a narcotic gas into the theatre to knock out the hostage-takers, and then stormed the building, killing all 41 attackers.

They failed to detonate any of their explosives, and nearly all the 130 victims died of the effects of the gas and a bungled rescue effort.

The Russian government came under attack for its bad handling of the siege which led to many more casualties than should have occurred.

The mother of a boy who was killed in the siege said that her son died because he didn't receive proper medical attention.

She claimed that nothing was done right and that the "bureaucrats don't want to admit their mistakes."

Officials staged an earlier ceremony in an apparent attempt to dodge the victims' relatives, who are scathingly critical of the government.

Tatyana Karpova, co-chair of a group of former hostages and victims' relatives, said in a reference to recent terror attacks, "For two years, we have been trying to persuade the government to draw conclusions from the tragedy so that it doesn't happen again, but no such conclusions have been made."

The theatre siege was the first in a series of high-profile terror attacks by Chechen rebels aimed at forcing Russia to withdraw its troops from the breakaway republic.

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Ariyani

Como educador, estou profundamente engajado no desenvolvimento dos estudantes em ambiente escolar, adotando métodos pedagógicos que valorizam conexões genuínas e são movidos por inovação e fervor. É minha vocação guiar os alunos na jornada de se tornarem uma geração notável, empregando estratégias de ensino amplamente aclamadas por prestigiadas instituições acadêmicas ao redor do globo - events.zulekhahospitals.com