Jelly
08-17-2005, 05:09 PM
Thieves ransack new Beslan school
A new school built in the Russian town of Beslan to replace the one destroyed in last year's siege has been robbed.
Thieves ransacked classrooms and made off with TVs, computers and printers worth about $6,200, officials say.
The new equipment had been bought as part of preparations for the new school term, which is due to begin next month.
More than 330 people, most of them children, were killed in the three-day siege by pro-Chechen gunmen who were assaulted by Russian troops.
Full investigation
Residents in the town, located in the Russian republic of North Ossetia, are said to be outraged by the news.
Timuraz Mamsurov, the president of North Ossetia, called a special meeting of the region's government to ensure that everything was done to catch the perpetrators.
"The top interior ministry specialists are involved in the investigation, which is being conducted with the help of the FSB [Russia's federal security service]," an interior ministry source told the AFP news agency.
The theft took place just three weeks before the first anniversary of the massacre, which began as children, students and parents gathered on 1 September 2004 to mark the first day of term.
Security sweeps
About 1,000 people were taken hostage by the gunmen and held hostage in the cramped school gymnasium for three days. The siege ended when explosives planted by the hostage-takers went off inside and Russian special forces stormed the building.
Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev later took responsibility for the attack.
It emerged that the militants had actually stored some weapons and explosives in the school while it was being refurbished in the summer break.
As a result police in North Ossetia have announced that all state schools in the region will be swept for explosives by sniffer dogs and sappers before the start of the new term.
A new school built in the Russian town of Beslan to replace the one destroyed in last year's siege has been robbed.
Thieves ransacked classrooms and made off with TVs, computers and printers worth about $6,200, officials say.
The new equipment had been bought as part of preparations for the new school term, which is due to begin next month.
More than 330 people, most of them children, were killed in the three-day siege by pro-Chechen gunmen who were assaulted by Russian troops.
Full investigation
Residents in the town, located in the Russian republic of North Ossetia, are said to be outraged by the news.
Timuraz Mamsurov, the president of North Ossetia, called a special meeting of the region's government to ensure that everything was done to catch the perpetrators.
"The top interior ministry specialists are involved in the investigation, which is being conducted with the help of the FSB [Russia's federal security service]," an interior ministry source told the AFP news agency.
The theft took place just three weeks before the first anniversary of the massacre, which began as children, students and parents gathered on 1 September 2004 to mark the first day of term.
Security sweeps
About 1,000 people were taken hostage by the gunmen and held hostage in the cramped school gymnasium for three days. The siege ended when explosives planted by the hostage-takers went off inside and Russian special forces stormed the building.
Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev later took responsibility for the attack.
It emerged that the militants had actually stored some weapons and explosives in the school while it was being refurbished in the summer break.
As a result police in North Ossetia have announced that all state schools in the region will be swept for explosives by sniffer dogs and sappers before the start of the new term.