http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/printable_version.cfm?method=printable_version_mirror&objectid=14605550&siteid=106694 THEY KNIFED BABIES, THEY RAPED GIRLS Sunday Mirror Sep 5 2004 By Euan Stretch Chief Reporter THE full horror of the Russian school atrocity began to emerge yesterday as traumatised children told horrific tales of stabbed babies and brutal rapes. It has also emerged that scores of the 323 who died - including many children - had been shot in the back. While despairing soldiers and rescue workers moved among the growing pile of body bags, it was revealed that an 18-month-old baby had been repeatedly stabbed by a black-clad terrorist who had run out of ammunition. Other survivors told how screaming teenage girls were dragged into rooms adjoining the gymnasium where they were being held and raped by their Chechen captors who chillingly made a video film of their appalling exploits They said children were forced to drink their own urine and eat the petals off the flowers they had brought their teachers after nearly three days without food or water in the stifling hot gym. Their stories came as Russian officials warned that the final death toll of the siege of Middle School No 1 at Beslan in North Ossetia - in which up to 1,200 people were held captive - was likely to be more than 400. The official toll yesterday stood at 323 which included 156 children, 10 Russian soldiers and two emergency service workers - 35 of the hostage-takers were also killed. Last night 434 people were being treated in hospital with 247 children and 85 adults in a critical condition. A Russian official said six seriously injured children had been taken to Moscow for treatment. "One of them is a child, just 18 months old, with many knife wounds," he said. The Chechen terrorists - including two so-called "Black Widows" - had been meticulously planning the hostage-taking for months. High explosives and ammunition had been smuggled into the building during the summer by rebels disguised as workmen. A shocking account of the siege has come from Indira Dzetskelova, the mother of 12-year-old Dzerase who was guarded by two women suicide bombers during the siege. She said: "On the first day they shot a man before my daughter's eyes. They frightened the kids by saying that water in the tap was poisoned. "The famished children had to eat rose petals from bouquets which they specially bought for their teachers to mark the first day of term. Parents who were also captured had to feed their kids with all the window plants. "After they ate all the petals, my daughter said that she started to nibble the rose plants. "She told me that several 15-year-old girls were raped by terrorists. She heard their terrible cries and screams when those monsters took them away." Her traumatised daughter Dzerase sobbed as she added: "When the assault started, some of us were running out through the school dining room. "We had to run across and jump over dead bodies. Can I ever forget it? Is it possible that one day I will forget it? "The terrorists started to shoot from the roof, then one of them ran into the dining room and started to shoot from the window. "I saw kids and women falling to the ground. And I saw that vermin's face. I saw his smile as he killed my friends." Diana Gadzhieva, 14, was held with her sister Akinba, aged 11. She told how the rebels executed all the adult men in a room upstairs and how she was forced to lie face down on the gym floor. She said: "There was not enough space for us and we were lying on top of each other. The rebels needed paths to walk around the gym. They shouted they would shoot anyone whose arm or leg was across their paths. "They also said they would kill anyone who looked up. "We saw groups of men hostages going out and never coming back." She also told of the moments when the bloody firefight started and how the rebels triggered a series of explosions inside the gym. Diana said: "There was terrible panic and a few boys jumped out of the windows. My sister and I did not want to run out - we were scared of being shot. "But then the second explosion happened and something heavy fell down on us. I saw children around me lying in blood and not moving. "Just next to me there was a woman covered in blood. She was dead. I also saw many arms and legs, torn from bodies. "All the bombs were connected with cords and started blowing up one after another, getting closer and closer to us. "I took Alina's hand and we ran to the window and jumped out. We were running as quickly as possible - our backs were terribly hot from the fires." Zalina Vazagova, 13, also told of the terrifying moment when a bomb exploded in the gym ceiling. She explained: "I heard a terrible crack above my head and closed my eyes. When I opened them, I thought I was dead. There was so much blood around me. "One granny was lying with a hole in her head. My PE teacher, Ivan Konstantinovich's body hit my leg. "All the kids were crying, 'Please don't shoot! Please don't kill us'. But the rebels did not listen to us. "Then I saw an open window and just jumped out. My little sister Lena was left inside there." And sobbing, she added: "I don't know if she's alive. She was only ten." Survivors say the gymnasium and surrounding corridors had been rigged with at least 18 bombs, connected by cables and trip wires. Two bombs were placed in the hoops of basketball nets and at either ends of the gymnasium. A "Black Widow" is thought to have blown herself up in front of more than 1,000 hostages, prompting the deadly fire-fight and triggering a further serious of explosions inside the gymnasium. At least three rebels were thought to have been captured alive in the school's basement - but were later said to have died. One disguised herself as a teacher leading children to safety. She was apparently shot dead seconds before trying to blow herself up in a nearby hospital. Another was apparently shot dead and beheaded by his comrades for trying to surrender. _________________ WE HAD TO DRINK OUR URINE HOSTAGE Sima Albegova told how the Chechen rebels became angry when they heard President Vladimir Putin was not visiting the school. Sima, a school cook, said: "The terrorists treated the kids well during first day, they did let them drink and go to toilet. "But right after they found out that Putin was not coming, they forbade the kids from going to the toilet. "We asked them, 'Why are you doing this to us?' They said it was because we voted for Putin. "And they said he doesn't care about you. He won't even come here to talk to us." By Friday morning conditions were so bad that people could hardly breathe. She added: "Most of kids were almost unconsciousness. Those who could move started to pee into shoes and then drink urine. "They would make several sips of urine and then would stop and cry because their lips were chapped and the urine stung their skin. "I would run to the terrorists and asked them to let kids drink. "They said, 'Go away, they'll survive'. But so many of them have not." _________________ MY LITTLE BOY WAS LEFT TO DIE A YOUNG mother told how she was released early with her two-month-old daughter - but her five-year-old son was forced to stay. Salimat Suleimanova said: "I begged them on my knees to let me take Shamil out with me, but they wouldn't - now I don't know where he is. "It was his first day at school." She is overwhelmed by guilt for coming out with her baby daughter. "They didn't allow me to go back and say goodbye to my little boy," she said. She added: "So many children lay unconscious without food and water. Occasionally the rebels took those out, poured water onto their heads and threw them back." _______________________________________________ No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding. Make My Way your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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