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American Morning
Russia's Special Forces Used Gas that Killed Hostages
Aired October 28, 2002 - 09:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Flags are flying at half-staff in Russia as the country goes in to mourning today. And amid the sorrow there is a lot of anger. It is now being revealed that all but two of the 117 hostages who died during a government raid on Saturday in Moscow were killed, not by their captors, but by their liberators.
A word of caution, some of the images we're going to show are going to be graphic this morning. You can decide whether you want to look at them or not.
Mike Hanna joins us now live from Moscow with more.
Good morning, Mike. I know you probably listened in on a little bit of Barbara Starr's reporting. Any official confirmation from the Russians about what kind of an agent was used here?
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Paula, the Russians throughout have been refusing to divulge exactly what element they used and introduced into the theater behind me during that military operation in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The report that we just heard from Barbara Starr there matches what we've heard from doctors on the ground here. Everything that they used in trying to treat the hostages who came in to hospitals did not produce any results. They did not know what the substance was. They asked the Russian authorities to tell them what it was so they could treat it effectively, but they were not told.
And that information that we are getting there ties in with the behavior of the hostages as they came out of the theater, many of them unable to walk, many of them completely unconscious. All indications were and from chemical experts that we've spoken to was that that substance was some type of hallucinogenic, which we're hearing now from the Pentagon saying that it is some heroine or morphine-based chemical. So that ties in with the information we've seen here and indeed the observation on the ground.
But today, a day of mourning, flags flying at half-staff throughout Russia. And here behind me, an informal shrine. People have been coming throughout the day to lay flowers in memory of those who died, those 115 people who died as a result of the gas used in the operation. Another two people were actually shot by the Chechen separatists before the military operation began.
Vladimir Putin, himself, in an address to the nation, had said that let the memory of those who died unite us. At the same time in the course of the day, he's made another very strong statement saying that Russia will seek out terrorists and those planning acts of terrorism wherever they might be. But amidst the mourning, amidst the grief here, there is still that anger, anger about the fact that those relatives of hostages were not told what was used and have not been told what was used during the operation that so many people, 400 still in hospital and 115 people dead as a result of that gas -- Paula.
ZAHN: Very sad, indeed. Mike Hanna, reporting from Moscow, thanks for the live update. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 28, 2002 - 09:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Flags are flying at half-staff in Russia as the country goes in to mourning today. And amid the sorrow there is a lot of anger. It is now being revealed that all but two of the 117 hostages who died during a government raid on Saturday in Moscow were killed, not by their captors, but by their liberators.
A word of caution, some of the images we're going to show are going to be graphic this morning. You can decide whether you want to look at them or not.
Mike Hanna joins us now live from Moscow with more.
Good morning, Mike. I know you probably listened in on a little bit of Barbara Starr's reporting. Any official confirmation from the Russians about what kind of an agent was used here?
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Paula, the Russians throughout have been refusing to divulge exactly what element they used and introduced into the theater behind me during that military operation in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The report that we just heard from Barbara Starr there matches what we've heard from doctors on the ground here. Everything that they used in trying to treat the hostages who came in to hospitals did not produce any results. They did not know what the substance was. They asked the Russian authorities to tell them what it was so they could treat it effectively, but they were not told.
And that information that we are getting there ties in with the behavior of the hostages as they came out of the theater, many of them unable to walk, many of them completely unconscious. All indications were and from chemical experts that we've spoken to was that that substance was some type of hallucinogenic, which we're hearing now from the Pentagon saying that it is some heroine or morphine-based chemical. So that ties in with the information we've seen here and indeed the observation on the ground.
But today, a day of mourning, flags flying at half-staff throughout Russia. And here behind me, an informal shrine. People have been coming throughout the day to lay flowers in memory of those who died, those 115 people who died as a result of the gas used in the operation. Another two people were actually shot by the Chechen separatists before the military operation began.
Vladimir Putin, himself, in an address to the nation, had said that let the memory of those who died unite us. At the same time in the course of the day, he's made another very strong statement saying that Russia will seek out terrorists and those planning acts of terrorism wherever they might be. But amidst the mourning, amidst the grief here, there is still that anger, anger about the fact that those relatives of hostages were not told what was used and have not been told what was used during the operation that so many people, 400 still in hospital and 115 people dead as a result of that gas -- Paula.
ZAHN: Very sad, indeed. Mike Hanna, reporting from Moscow, thanks for the live update. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
