Page 1 of Russian Siege - 116 of 117 dead from gas

Just been watching the news, the gas used by russian troops when ending the theatre siege killed 116 out of the 117 dead hostages, with 500 in hospital still.

Looks like they used banned military gas instead of tear gas etc.

Noone knows what they used.

This is pretty bad but have you read what transpired inside the theatre? Gunshots and executions and explosions. Not to mention huge bags of what look like cheap fertiliser style explosives - they were going to level the place.

The news isn`t at all clear yet - most of the hostages appear to have been gassed and most of the Chechen terrorists shot. Mighty strange.

EDIT - this is from CNN

"Many of the 50 assailants killed in the rescue mission died after being shot in the head, apparently while unconscious from the gas"

Looks like they went a bit heavy on the gas, indeed.

This item was edited on Monday, 28th October 2002, 13:30

Looks like we might never here the truth on this one. How many casualties were there amongst the special forces etc... what gas did they use...

It seems like the rebels would probably have executed everyone judging by the quotes from hostages. Two hostages had already been killed one shot in the eye, so they were probably right to storm the building, after all the lead hostage killer boasted about killing up to 170 people. This is a guy that executed 3 British and one New Zealander back in 1998. The gas concentration was clearly all wrong though. It had probably only been tested outdoors on fit soldiers... these were people of all ages.

Seems strange that many people came out fine and so many got killed, I guess it depends how near they were to the gas source.
Some of the assailants were down corridors where the gas hadn`t reached hence the gunfights. Looks like they did well to stop them detonating the bombs although it seems some grenades went off. On BBC they mention a woman rebel getting shot in the temple whilst she was trying to use a grenade.

The Russian government isn`t helping matters by refusing to release details of what gas was used, information which could greatly help the Doctor`s trying to heal the 500 or so still affected by the gas.

Apparently, they won`t release details as it`s a `secret` harking back to the days of the cold war. Colour me stupid, but isn`t the cold war over?

one good thing that could come of this.. get s***loads of this gas and pump it into the Tora Bora caves

This item was edited on Monday, 28th October 2002, 17:46

This story just keeps on changing now they are saying 45 out of the 115 died of gunshot wounds. More is gonna follow I think.

I don`t think the US is short of ideas for blasting rats out of the Afghan caves (or burying them alive).

Besides, I`m sure the uproar would be x1000 greater if the US used gas in such an operation. Right now, people are only really mad at the Soviets, *ahem*, Russians (cold war warrior) for not divulging details of the gas used.

I don`t think its anything too lethal - just as a previous poster stated, it was used at high volume in a confined area against a mixture of women, children, old people.

Frankly, unless the gas knocked out everyone, I`d be surprised if 99% of the deaths were gas-related. Can you imagine the chaos of 20-40 chechens and Russian police special forces blasting away in atheatre with 700 hostages?

Lots of comments from SAS "afficionados" on the news. Shame for them you can`t really compare the Iranian embassy siege (with only 5 terrorists) to this in the slightest. Idiots.

I think the Russians took a calculated risk which didn`t quite come off.

But at least they killed 50 rebels, which maybe what they wanted to do all along.

What are the lives of 120 people compared to getting rid of these rebels, some of whom were quite high-up.

I don`t understand the Chechnyan (spelt wrong me thinks) conflict, the place just looks such a sh*t hole, why fight over it?

However, if it has oil then I can understand why the Russians want to keep it.

Well, even a s*** hole can be home....and I can well believe it was quite habitable before the Russians decided to make `an example` of the rebels and, to be honest, anyone who lived there who would have preferred to go it alone and live in their own country and have their own way of life with their own religion. There was a time, not long ago, when the Chechnyans were the `heroes` in Western eyes, having been slaughtered in their thousands (mainly civilians) by vastly superior troops. How times have changed eh?...and it`s probably relatively easy to say that 120 innocent lives were lost (but it`s ok really as the bad guys died as well)..especially if you didn`t know any of them.

Not being cynical or anything but the Russians are getting a rather hefty amount of support from both our government and also the US at the moment (regardless of what rumours there are about the type of gas used - the US is now saying it was `just` an opiate...probably)...nothing to do with the fact that Russia can be a powerful `ally` in any future war with Iraq and so too much pressure on them would be counterproductive. If it turns out, in years to come, that the gas was in fact something that should never have been kept in the first place, I doubt much will be done apart from an internation `slap on the wrist` from the UN who`s chemical weapon charter would have been ignored.

I find the whole situation terribly sad and worrying, and wouldn`t trust anything that comes out of our own media, let alone Russia. It`s all guesswork and conjecture at the moment - one report will instantly be countered by another, and both will instantly be bandied about as `the truth`, until something else comes along.

but what do I know, eh?....may add something to the `story` thread..will cheer me up a bit.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 29th October 2002, 10:40

That`s so ironic Alan.

Hang on, you`re not pulling our legs this time are you?

had no intention of doing so Grunt...not sure there was anything controversial or offensive in what I wrote anyway :-) (damn..there goes another smily!)