Epress.am News from Armenia
Events over the course of three days to mark a school tragedy in 2004 have begun in the North Ossetian city of Beslan, reports ITAR-Tass news agency.
On September 1, 2004, a group of terrorists seized city school No. 1 and took 1,200 children, teachers and parents hostage. The terrorists kept them in a school gym for three days, denying them food and drink. As a result, 336 hostages, including 186 children, died.
The events to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the school siege will begin with a memorial ceremony in the courtyard of the semi-ruined school No.1 at 9 am. a
On Wednesday evening, children will light up candles in the schoolyard to commemorate the killed hostages and those who later died of wounds.
On September 2, a Holy Cross will be installed and consecrated in the territory of the school. A requiem concert will be held outdoors near the Beslan Palace of Culture on Thursday evening. Well-known artists and musicians from North Ossetia, including children, will read poems and sing songs about the Beslan tragedy.
The main events will be held on the third day, on September 3. Father Vasily, the head of Orthodox Churches in North Ossetia, will lead a funeral service in the school gym at 11:30 am. At 1:05 pm, two bells will ring and a minute of silence will be observed. The school pupils will release 336 white balloons into the air in memory of their classmates, teachers and parents who accompanied their children to school six years ago and were taken hostage together with their kids.
After that, a minute of silence will be observed in the City of Angels, a children’s memorial cemetery in Beslan. The names of all the victims will be read out against the ticking of a metronome. In the evening, slides will be shown in the courtyard of school No.1.
About 20,000 people are expected to take part in commemorative events on September 3.
At present, German experts are carrying out conservation works in the semi-ruined building of school No. 1. Upon their completion, the school will become a memorial museum and will be open to all visitors.
A new academic year in Beslan schools starts on September 6.