September 5, as the death toll of Russia’s school hostage crisis reportedly climbed to near 400, a Christian mission organization working in the area said.
In a statement obtained by BosNewsLife, the U.S. backed Russian Ministries reported that its pastors, brothers Sergey and Taymuraz Totiev, had eight children in the school in Beslan, North Ossetia, and that five of them remained unaccounted for.
"Pastor (Sergey) Totiev confirmed that Anya, his 8-year-old daughter, was killed. Azum, one of his sons, is being treated in hospital where doctors are trying to preserve vision in both of his eyes," said Russian Ministries Vice President Sergey Rakhuba.
"His niece, Madina, has left the hospital and returned to her home (but) she has not spoken and is in a state of shock." He said the five other children remain missing as "many children were sent to a larger hospital in Vladikavkaz."
Because Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the area surrounding Beslan to be sealed off, the pastors were "unable to travel to that city and search for the remaining children" he said, suggesting they apparently still hope to find them alive.
However medical workers have warned parents they may never see their children again. "Some of the bodies are so mutilated the relatives can’t recognize them," Vita, a medical worker at the Vladikavkaz morgue, told the French News Agency (AFP).
"We are taking samples of hair and blood," said Vita, who refused to give her last name. Official figures have so far said that 330 people have been confirmed dead. Most of them are believed to have died in gun battles between militants demanding independence for neighboring Chechnya, and Russian Special Forces, who stormed the school Friday, September 3, to end the three day hostage crisis.
Dozens of unexploded bombs remaining in the building were reportedly hampering the work of rescuers trying to drag bodies from the rubble.
DEATH TOLL CLIMBS
Pastor Sergey Totiev said he fears the death toll could further rise to 500 people and that more than half of them may be children. All 26 hostage takers, including nine of possible Arab descent, were also killed, Russian officials said earlier.
Churches in the region began increasing their efforts to provide "spiritual counseling" to relatives of those who died as well as former hostages, who will never forget what they saw and began recalling their memories Sunday, September 5.
"They always told us to keep away from the wires because if we trapped on the wrong one, we’d be blown up," said 15-year-old Yana of her captors, AFP reported. Other children said they were forced to quietly drink urine in the overcrowded gymnasium where they were held, because the militants refused to give them water and food.
TERROR RELIEF FUND
Some hostages "who made to much noise" were shot, children added. Russian Ministries suggested it has set up a special task force with its Terror Relief Fund to deal with the spiritual needs of former hostages and relatives of those who died. The Fund will also support victims of other terrorist attacks, amid warnings from President Vladimir Putin that "the whole nation" was now attacked by what he called "international terrorism."
Russian churches also provide humanitarian aid. As Beslan prepared for the first funerals Sunday, the president of the Evangelical Christian-Baptist of Russia, arrived in the region and urged "all Baptist churches in Russia not just to pray, but to also financially support the (local) community" of the impoverished region "regardless of religious affiliation."
He said funds were needed "to care for the injured, burying those who died, and helping the community at large (to) recover from this tragedy," Russian Ministries reported. In addition Orthodox churches across Russia held special services as donors queued in Moscow to give blood to help the injured, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said.
SPIRAL OF VIOLENCE
From the Vatican, Pope John Paul II sent a telegram of condolences to the Russian authorities saying he hoped the "spiral of hatred and violence" would not prevail.
There are thousands of Christians in the region and many have prayed for the hostages, Russian Ministries said earlier. At the same time, North Ossetians have criticized the Kremlin for the way Russian forces carried out the rescue operation.
That view was reflected by Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, who later tried to defuse a row over a European Union statement on Russia’s handling of the Beslan hostage crisis. In a statement on behalf of EU foreign ministers, Bot said the Union would like to know from the authorities "how the tragedy could have happened."
"DEEPLY OFFENSIVE"
Although the Russian Foreign Ministry described it as "Insolent, odious and deeply offensive", there was some sympathy for the Dutch remarks within the Council of Europe (CoE), the BBC reported.
"The Dutch minister was totally right because (of) what we just heard on the news. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wants to enforce more security troops, he wants to have a new crisis management. That’s not the point," said the CoE’s rapporteur on Chechnya, Andreas Gross.
"They (the Kremlin) have to understand what the people are who do not share their own point of view. And this is a political task they have to learn," Gross was quoted as saying. "And in this sense the Dutch minister made a very, very soft attempt to make them think about this, too," he added.
LITTLE INFORMATION
Russian and Western commentators have criticized the Kremlin for giving out very little information about the hostage drama and for, initially, playing down the figures of the number of people held inside the school. At least 1,200 people are believed to have been in the building, with some estimates running as high as 1,500.
There is also concern among foreign observers that Putin’s pledge to create a more affective security pparatus could include a further crack down on media and a turning back to the habits of the Soviet era.
Putin, a former officer of the KGB, the Soviet secret service, said Saturday that the transformation from the Soviet Union to current Russia "has shown weakness," which he wanted to tackle as part of what he called his nation’s struggle against "international terrorism."
Russian officials have accused Chechen rebels of ties with militant Muslim terror networks such as al-Qaeda of Osama bin Laden. The siege of the school came shortly after 10 people died when a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a metro station in Moscow earlier in the week. On August 24 some 90 people died when two planes exploded almost simultaneously in suicide attacks.
Russian Ministries has said it will do al it can to reach the troubled Beslan region. It urged supporters to donate to the Terror Relief Fund by calling toll-free 1-888-462-7639 or via Credit Cards on its website http://www.russian-ministries.org/fs_start.htm. The Russian Ministries postal address for gifts was identified as Russian Ministries, P.O. Box 496, Wheaton, IL 60189.
