] "Taking advantage of the panic, hostages began to
] escape," a spokesman for North Ossetia's president, Lev
] Dzugayev, said in an interview, referring to the initial
] blasts. "The bandits began shooting them in the back. The
] special forces on our side had to cover the fleeing
] hostages. This is unfortunately how it happened."
]
] The number of dead and wounded far surpassed the number
] of hostages that were even reported being held, prompting
] accusations here that the authorities deliberately
] underplayed the severity of the crisis. Today, a
] presidential adviser said for the first time that as many
] as 1,200 hostages might have in fact been held.

[ In case this doesn't propagate thru the major channels in the midst of all the RNC and hurricane Frances stories, I thought I'd post it here. A sad ending to a horrible situation -- this story reports at least 120 dead and over 5 times that many injured. -k]

Soldiers Storm Russian School; Fate of Many Hostages Is Unclear