The horror of Beslan, seven years later

On September 1, Russia will mark the seventh anniversary of the Beslan siege. Candles will be burning on the ruins of School No. 1 for 51 hours and 50 minutes (from 9:15 a.m. of September 1 till 13:05 of September 3 MSK) - the time which the hostages spent in the school gym, seized by terrorists.

Many people will lay flowers on the school yard, to the Tree of Sorrow monument and to the Memorial Cemetery of Beslan, where the victims of the monstrous terrorist act are buried.

Flowers and toys appear on the graves of the children of Beslan on September 1 for seven years already. Grieving relatives, who lost their loved ones in the siege, do not make a step away from the graves.

Emails from our readers we received 7 years ago

A memorial complex will be built in the yard of the Beslan school. Construction works will be suspended for three days of mourning. A hundred and three columns have been installed around the school gym. The columns will be supporting the glass dome. The facade of the complex will be built after September 3.

The mourning ceremony has not changed in seven years after the horrific tragedy. At 9:15, the school ring is heard in the school yard, and people begin to lay flowers. They bring flowers and water and light candles in the gym near the photographs of the victims. On a third day, on September 3, at 13:05 o'clock, when the first explosion ripped through the school, the schoolchildren of Beslan will release 334 white balloons in the sky and read the names of every victim out loud.

The survivors of the terrorist act also come to the school both from North Ossetia and other cities of the Russian Federation.

On September 1, 2004, over 30 terrorists took more than 1,200 people hostage at School No. 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia. Three hundred and thirty-four people, of whom 186 were children, died in the siege. A hundred and twenty-six former hostages became disabled individuals. Seventy of them are children, who are still in need of rehabilitation.

Beslan tribute - YouTube video

Beslan: Five Years On - Russia Today documentary