Hostages Flee Amid Firefight

Around 40 women and children escaped today from the school in southern Russia where hundreds of people are being held hostage by terrorists.

Gunfire and two explosions were heard as troops engaged in firefights with the hostage-takers in Beslan, North Ossettia.

One unconfirmed report said Russian forces were now in control of the school, but the crisis did not yet appear to be over. Most of the hostages, who could number more than 1,000, are still in the school. Officials were said to be continuing negotiations.

Troops were seen carrying children away from the school, where 17 heavily armed men and women have been holding the hostages, many of them children, for three days.

Television news showed fleeing children, many of them naked or in underwear, and some injured and bleeding. There were chaotic scenes at the school, but reports suggested Russian forces had been prompted to engage with the militants after something happened inside.

The series of events was unclear. However, citing the Interfax news agency, in one unconfirmed report Sky news said Moscow had said it had been forced to act after intercepting a telephone call in which the hostage-takers said they were going to "annihilate" all the hostages.

One report said that the terrorists had tried and failed to escape by trying to shoot their way through relatives of the hostages gathered on one side of the school.

Interfax said the school roof had collapsed, and militants were shelling and firing from the building. Four helicopters were hovering overhead.

Previous explosions have been blamed on the hostage-takers firing off grenade launchers when they perceived movement near the building. The militants, with explosives strapped to their bodies, had reportedly threatened to blow up the building if authorities tried to storm it.

Officials said yesterday that 354 adults and children were being held by the 17 heavily armed men and women who stormed the school on Wednesday.

But a report today quoting a female teacher who was one of the 31 hostages released yesterday said there were "at least 1,500 hostages". A local politician announced a similar figure.