27 October 2021, 11:08
Relatives of victims of "Dubrovka" terror act call on to investigate hostages' deaths
19 years after the tragedy at the "Dubrovka" Theatre Centre, authorities still fail to reveal the reason of deaths, many of the victims have diseases of toxic origin, victims' relatives said on the anniversary of the storming.
On October 23, 2002, during the musical "Nord-Ost" at the above Theatre Centre, militants led by Movsar Baraev took 916 people as hostages. In exchange for their lives, they demanded to stop hostilities in Chechnya and withdraw federal troops from there. The militants' demands were rejected, and on October 26, law enforcers stormed the centre with the use of some gas. During the storm, 40 militants were killed. According to official figures, 130 hostages perished; more than 700 others suffered.
On October 26, relatives commemorated the victims of the storming the Centre. 130 white balloons were launched into the sky, equalling the number of victims of the terror act. The commemorative event ended with the laying of flowers at the monument "In memory of terror act victims" and a prayer service, the "Ekho Moskvy" Radio has reported.
Such actions are a must, said Vladimir Kurbatov, the father of one of the victims. He has noted that despite the pain of the loss, he will continue coming to such actions in order to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Kurbatov, like most of the relatives, spoke about the need to investigate the circumstances of the tragedy. In their opinion, the number of victims could have been several times smaller, says the message posted on the website of the above radio.
Authorities have failed to answer about the reasons for the death of 125 hostages, who died not of wounds, said Dmitry Milovidov, a member of the "Nord-Ost" Coordination Council, whose daughter died in the "Dubrovka" Theatre Centre. "Our most important issue is that the state must complete the operation to rescue the hostages. People recorded as rescued and survivors have a large bouquet of diseases of toxic genesis, they need help," Mr Milovidov said on air of the "Dozhd" (Rain) TV Company*. According to his story, many of those who survived the terror act have health problems – loss of hearing, vision and memory, and toxic hepatitis.
* The organization is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the “Register of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent”.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 26, 2021 at 11:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: The Caucasian Knot
