Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of the week of August 30-September 5

Natural fires in the Volgograd Region capture dwelling settlements, taking eight human lives and leaving about a thousand persons without roof over their head; Russia and other countries hold mourning actions on the sixth anniversary of the terror act in Beslan; suicide bomber commits a terror act in Buinaksk killing five and wounding thirty persons, - look these and other events in the review of the week of August 30-September 5, 2010, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Russians and foreigners commemorate Beslan victims

On September 1-3, Russia and many other countries held mourning actions dated to the sixth anniversary of Beslan terror act. They took place in Beslan, in Moscow and in Paris.

Since very morning on September 1, people were coming to School No. 1 in Beslan, where in September 2004 1300 persons were taken hostage by militants.

On September 2, Beslan held a traditional day of silence: during the whole day people came to the school and memorial cemetery in the "City of Angels" to give tribute of memory to the victims.

On September 3, at the entrance to the gym of the Beslan schools, where hostages were kept, people were given candles and carnations in order to place them near the photos of the victims of the terror act. Then, a minute of silence was announced, and schoolboys, traditionally, sent 334 white balloons into the sky - by the number of those perished in the terror act.

On Sunday, September 5, members of the All-Russian Public Organization "Voice of Beslan" held a picket in central Vladikavkaz with a demand of objective investigation of the terror act in Beslan. "They want to silence Beslan. We'll never admit it," said the picketers.

Volgograd Region captured by fires

On September 2, the Volgograd Region was captured by an atmospheric front with strong wind and dust storms at the ambient temperature of almost plus 40 Centigrade. Six districts of the region saw 70 fire outbreaks of landscape fires, which had spread by means of wind at up to 28 meters per second over dwelling settlements.

Eight persons were lost in fires, and 28 more were injured. Fires destroyed 531 structures, including 419 dwelling houses. About one thousand persons remained without housing.

By today, as the officials of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) assert, all the fires in the territory of the Volgograd Region have been extinguished.

Starting September 6, the residents of the Volgograd Region, who suffered from fires, will start receiving compensations. Authorities promise to build houses for fire victims by December.

In the context of mass natural fires a number of criminal cases are now investigated against the officials, suspected of negligence, which had entailed mass spread of fire outbreaks and death of people.

Suicide bomber commits terror act in Dagestan: 5 casualties and 30 victims

At night of September 5, a car stuffed with explosive blew up in the territory of the "Dalni" training range in Buinaksk near a soldiers' tent camp. Five persons were lost and some 30 more were wounded.

The work is on to identify the suicide bomber whose remains were found in the place of the explosion.

In the opinion of the investigation, the sentry of the military unit of the field camp, where the terror act was committed, was not properly prepared to resist the suicide bomber's attack.

After the terror act in Buinaksk, military units of the Southern Military District were transferred to the strengthened regime of military service.

Regions of South of Russia mark Day of Knowledge

This year's Day of Knowledge, September 1, was notable by more first-form pupils than it was last year. The trend was fixed practically in all the regions of the South of Russia. During the holiday, teachers and parents shared their joys and problems related to children's studies at school.

Dagestan lacks schools, while parents find preparing their kids to the school year quite burdensome for family's budget.

Shortage of places in schools and preschool facilities is also a problem in Ingushetia, where today youth's access to education is ensured by emergency measures (some schools work in three shifts), and about 80 percent of children have no chances to go to kindergartens, as the latter are very few in number.

In the Stavropol Territory, which has about one thousand more first-form pupils than in 2009, not all schools could take pupils on September 1 because of the emergency condition of their premises.

In the Rostov Region and Chechnya remote training is now available for children-invalids.

In Kabardino-Balkaria, local authorities decided to pay monthly scholarships to best schoolchildren. They also set up a bonus fund for five best teachers of the year.

In Karachai-Circassia, President Boris Ebzeyev ordered local authorities to take special patronage over poorly equipped schools.