Survivors say the first two hostages were killed hours before the theatrewas stormed, reports Nick Paton Walsh
The first testimonies from hostages released from hospital contradict the version of events offered by Russian authorities about the theatre siege, and portray a band of callous gunmen undone by their own vanity and cruelty.
Giorgi Vasiliev, author of the musical Nord Ost, who was used by the Chechens to relay messages to Russian security officials, said yesterday that the release of gas into the auditorium had not, as Russian officials maintained, been triggered by the execution of hostages.
Instead, Mr Vasiliev said the Russian special forces had seized an opportunity to gas the gunmen as they moved away from the bombs rigged in the hall, and gathered in a side room to watch a video of themselves storming the stage two nights previously.
Mr Vasiliev said the first two hostages were in fact killed at about 3 a.m. that morning.
On the third night, the hostages realised that dawn would bring shooting. Frightful whispers passed between hostages along the theatre rows. Some had heard the gunmen say they would be killed in groups of 10 at daylight. Another said they would be shot individually. The tension, exacerbated by the gunmen who had been throwing chewing gum at hungry hostages to taunt them, slowly began taking its toll.
A young boy began to cry. He screamed, "Mummy, I don't know what to do", and then ran from his seat.
The gunmen, anxious to keep total control of their 750 captives, opened fire at the child. They missed him but hit a man in his seat. He was shot in the eye. "There was a lot of blood", said one witness, "bubbling blood. And a girl was hit in the side. They then told us not to worry as everything would be all right." A calm descended after the incident for the next hour. Mr Vasiliev was asked to ring the Russian authorities and request that the bodies be removed. He poured scorn on official reports of an escape attempt among the hostages, saying they all realised it would be a "suicide mission". "Barayev [the gunmen's leader] seized my telephone," said Mr Vasiliev. "I was moved away from the main bomb and sat elsewhere. I decided to sleep." Twenty minutes later, at about 5.40 a.m., the gunmen woke Mr Vasiliev, and took him to the main control room for the theatre's technical equipment on the top floor. The gunmen had discovered that, while they had stormed the stage at 9.10 p.m. on Wednesday, an automatic camera had been running.
The Chechens wanted to see how they had looked, and forced Mr Vasiliev to get Sasha Fediakin, the theatre's technician, to stage a private viewing for them.
Unknown to the Chechens, the elite Alfa anti-terrorist unit, were monitoring their every move, most likely using fibre-optic cameras from the rooftops. They had listened to the gunmen. That night they had seen the 18 female suicide bombers, whom the hostages had watched tape explosives to themselves, arm the crude detonators of their bombs. The Alfa had learned that the women were not allowed to blow themselves and the theatre up without an explicit command from the male leaders.
As the gunmen gathered to watch their home video in the technical room far above the theatre auditorium, the Alfa force made their move. Gas was poured into the room, and simultaneously into the theatre below.
Several Spetznaz soldiers burst through the roof, killing the gunmen. At the same time Alfa troops who had been waiting in the drains of the building for more than a day, sprang up into the auditorium. The marksmen killed each of the female suicide bombers with a single shot to the temple. They lay slumped in their seats.
Mr Vasiliev said he thought communications between the terrorists must also have been cut, as the men were unable to tell the women to detonate the bombs. One of the gunmen found a can of CS gas on the hostages, and at intervals started spraying the audience for amusement. He adds that while some of the women were pleasant to hostages, one even writing down parts of the Koran for him, the men were vicious, particularly those in the corridor.
Mr Vasiliev's testimony ends here as he passed out, but he adds that one woman, who covered her mouth with a wet cloth, stayed conscious to see people slump in their seats, their heads eventually rolling backwards to gawp open-eyed at the ceiling.
With the first wave of terrorists dead, the special forces then eliminated the gunmen guarding the theatre's extensive corridors.
The frontal assault started at around 6.30 a.m. with two special forces soldiers moving in towards the foyer, taking cover behind concrete pillars. A lone woman walked across the front of the foyer, dazed, into the arms of waiting troops. Then a massive explosion rocked the building, setting off all the car alarms in the theatre forecourt.
A second wave of troops came in from the left, and disappeared into the theatre. First, there was a volley of gunfire from inside, then three large explosions, as the Spetznaz deployed stun grenades.
Hostages began to dribble out of the theatre doors. Some appeared unaffected by the gas, and were possibly among the theatre-goers who had hidden in the building throughout the siege, including a woman who had concealed herself in a room beneath the stage.
By 6.51 a.m. the Russians appeared to have control of the building. Some 50 Spetznaz in black rushed from the left into the foyer, and formed a line before entering the inner auditorium.
At 7 a.m. the last shots were fired inside. By then at least 13 bodies were piled on the foyer terrace, and the siege was over. Mr Vasiliev said: "I cannot speak about success. We have lost people we know." - (Guardian Service)