Footage of theatre siege shown on Russian TV

Russian television has aired film it says was recorded by the Chechen gunmen inside the Moscow theatre they seized last month…

Russian television has aired film it says was recorded by the Chechen gunmen inside the Moscow theatre they seized last month.

The film, broadcast on Russia's state-controlled Rossiya channel, shows rebels running over the stage, firing a gun into the air and ordering the musicians to climb out of the orchestra pit.

The female captors, dressed in black robes and holding guns, are shown sitting among the audience while the theatregoers slump down into their seats. Heavily armed male gunmen sit guard in the aisles.

Russian special forces stormed the theatre on October 26th, ending the 58-hour siege and freeing hundreds of hostages.

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At least 41 militants and 119 hostages were killed, most by the sleep-inducing gas that special forces pumped into the theatre before the storming.

Moscow officials say 149 former hostages remain in hospital, Interfax news agency reports. Two were released yesterday, bringing the total of released hostages to 501.

But Russian websites have reported that over 100 people believed to have been in the theatre at the time of the hostage-taking remain unaccounted for.

Russian officials say no one is missing and that there is some indication the lists are simply inaccurate or outdated.