Days of mourning in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania

Days of mourning in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania
On September 1, 2004, in the city of Beslan, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, a terrorist detachment led by Ruslan Khuchbarov (also known as Colonel and Rasul), numbering more than 30 people (including women), seized the building of secondary school №1.
In the morning, during the celebratory assembly dedicated to the Day of Knowledge, held in the courtyard of the educational institution, armed people suddenly jumped out of the approaching truck covered with an awning and, opening fire from automatic weapons over the heads of the audience, began to drive everyone present into the building. Only a few managed to escape the fate of hostages by taking advantage of the panic.
The number of hostages, according to initial data, was 354 people (later it turned out that there were much more of them — 1116 people). The overwhelming majority of those in captivity were children (including those of preschool age).
On November 26, 2004, the President of North Ossetia signed a decree "On the ethical and moral situation around the Beslan tragedy," according to which September 3 was declared in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania as the Day of Remembrance for the victims of the terrorist act in the city of Beslan in 2004.
Since 2005, annually in North Ossetia on September XNUMX, three-day mourning events commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack in the Beslan school, and in Beslan itself, the beginning of the school year is shifted by three days because of mourning.
On mourning days, people bring flowers to the ruins of the school and to the City of Angels memorial cemetery, where most of the hostages are buried. In 2005, a monument to the "Tree of Sorrow" was unveiled on it, and in 2006 - a memorial to the FSB special forces and rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations who died during the release of hostages.