Mourning events are being held in North Ossetia in memory of the innocent victims of the terrorist attack at school No.1 on September 1-3, 2004. This was reported by the press service of the head and government of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania.
On the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attack, hundreds of people are coming to the courtyard of school No.1 since early morning to pay tribute to those killed by terrorists.
At exactly 9:15 a.m., the school bell rang in the courtyard of the school. The first to enter the destroyed gymnasium were former hostages, holding portraits of the dead children and adults.
Flowers and wreaths were laid at the memorial cross installed in the gym by the head of North Ossetia Sergey Menyailo, Speaker of Parliament Taimuraz Tuskaev, the head of the Republic's government Boris Dzhanaev, representatives of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, the State Duma of the Russian Federation, representatives of public and religious organizations, former hostages and their relatives.
The memorial watch will last three days and will end on September 3 at the memorial cemetery the "City of Angels".
A memorial event will be held in the courtyard of school No. 1 in the evening, during which 334 memorial candles will be lit.
On September 1, 2004, during a ceremonial line-up dedicated to the beginning of the school year at the Secondary School No. 1 in Beslan, the terrorists took 1,128 people hostage, including schoolchildren, parents and teachers. For three days, they were being held in the school's gymnasium, which was filled with explosives, without food or water. As a result of the terrorist attack, 334 people were killed, including 186 children. Ten Special Forces soldiers and two employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations died heroically during the release of the hostages.