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Boys in dark suits and girls with white lacy bows: classes resume in Beslan, site of deadly school siege
By SERGEI GRITS
BESLAN, Russia (AP) - School opened again on Wednesday. The boys of Beslan wore dark suits, the girls - as they do in Russia - had lacy white bows in their hair. Their day with a minute of silence to remember the 338 people who died after they were taken hostage by heavily armed militants on the first first day of school two weeks ago.
The children showed up at the seven remaining schools in this quiet industrial town deep in southern Russia, shepherded by nervous parents, relatives and police wearing camouflage.
But the students from School No. 1 did not return to their classrooms. Their building was largely destroyed in the spasms of violence - explosions and gunbattles - during the climax of the three days of horror during which militants held more than 1,200 people hostage, did not return to their classrooms.
Many of the survivors and their families were sent to recuperate at Black Sea sanatoriums in the resort cities of the so-called Russian Riviera - places like Sochi were Russian President Vladimir Putin vacations.
The traumatized city was to return its children to school a day earlier, but that was delayed to give the military, police and bomb-sniffing dogs additional time to search the buildings for explosives and weapons.
On Wednesday, police holding rifles stood guard outside school entrances as a trickle of students arrived.
Only one in four children turned up, the state-controlled Rossiya television station reported, but officials expected the numbers to increase gradually.
"We have mixed feelings. We are afraid, but it's necessary to start school and we hope that things will turn for the better,'' said parent Mila Kiyanova.
Soslan Sikoyev, the region's acting regional interior minister, said authorities were taking extra security measures, including daily armed patrols of schools and 24-hour surveillance. There was also a proposal to have regular inspections at schools and kindergartens.
"I was scared during the terrorist act at School No. 1,'' said Kaitar Koloyev, who attends fourth grade elsewhere in Beslan. "My friends were scared too, but I tried to calm them, asking them to not be afraid and telling them that everything will be all right.''
The siege ended in explosions and gunfire, sending terrified children - some naked and bloodied - running from their ruined school building. Authorities say all the hostage-takers were killed, except one suspected attacker, who was detained.
"Our little Beslan is a very friendly town. We all know each other and in no way will terrorism break us,'' said Lyubov Vaniyeva, a teacher at School No. 6, which had rows of empty desks as many parents kept their children home.
A top law enforcement officer, meanwhile, signaled that investigators are taking a hard look at how police and security agencies reacted during the siege.
"When such a terrible thing happens, professionalism is of primary importance. Why was it allowed to happen?'' Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov asked.
"A full-scale investigation ... will be conducted to assess the activities of the leaders of power structures ... to find out why they let it happen, and secondly, how they reacted under the circumstances.''
The ITAR-Tass news agency also reported that a public commission made up of relatives of the victims had been set up to monitor the official investigation into the siege. Russia's upper house of parliament - comprised entirely of regional appointees loyal to the Kremlin - is heading up the official inquiry.
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