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Gas May Have Been Heroin or Morphine Based

Aired October 28, 2002 - 13:08   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.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: There is more today on the gas that was used by Russian troops who stormed a Moscow theater to end a hostage crisis. The gas is blamed for all but two of the hostage deaths, and now, U.S. officials say, it may have been a heroine or morphine-based agent. Doctors say patients are responding to a treatment that's normally used for drug overdoses. We'll get an update on the hostage siege and its fallout from CNN's Mike Hanna, who now joins us from Moscow.
And, Mike, how is this playing out in Moscow as far as what was a rescue turned tragedy?

MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, very much so, Marty, and today, of course, is a national day of mourning, remembering those that died as a result of that hostage siege, 117 people, 115 of these dying as a result of complications arising out of the gas they inhaled, gas that the rescuers used to save their lives, effectively. In the early hours of Saturday morning, some kind of substance was pumped into the theater where the Chechen separatists were holding some 800 people. Large concentrations of whatever the agent was used, aimed to immediately immobilize the Chechen captures, as they had threatened to detonate explosives should the police storm the building.

While security forces went into the building, they succeeded in immobilizing the Chechen separatists, but also, they gassed a large number of people. Dead bodies poured out, and the death toll, as a I said, as result of that gas, 115 people.

In addition, there's it's of people still in hospital receiving treatment. Doctors were not told what the agent was, and this has created a great storm of anger as well.

Getting back to that siege, earlier, we spoke to one person who was there when the Russian forces stormed in, and this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREI NAUMOV, SURVIVOR: I saw smoke, and it smelled like smoke, like a burning approximately, but I think it was not gas; it was only smoke. The gas was invisible, and without taste, without smell. It wasn't visible, and I couldn't see and taste it, but after these gas, I laid on the floor, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I laid and remembered nothing, only that I woke up in hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HANNA: Confirmation there that that substance was odorless, that it was colorless, and reports that we've been hearing from the U.S., from the Pentagon sources there, that it could have been some form of chemical agent with a same chemical structure as heroin or opium. In other words, it's a hallucinogenic that was used in this particular the operation. Russia not saying what they used, insisting that they will not divulge what are essentially very important secrets that they say must be kept away from terrorists, should they have to use the substance again.

But this doesn't satisfy some in Russia, particularly some parliamentarians. This is what the head of the Parliamentary Defense Committee has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXEI ARBATOV, DEP. CHIEF PARLIAMENT MEMBER: I blames the authorities for not providing the doctors with anecdotes and the instructions how to use them. And that is certainly a great blunder and many people are paying for that blunder with their health, and some even with their life. That is something which should be investigated, and people, authorities responsible for that, should be punished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNA: A direct accusation from a parliamentarian that the lack of information given by the authorities led directly to the loss of lives that should not have happened -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: And the reaction from the Russian people, is it targeted against the terrorists who were initially responsible, or are they angry with the President Putin?

HANNA: Well, I think that one must be very clear about this. The actual action, the end of that hostage siege, few people are criticizing that. They realize that a very, very complicated situation there, the presence of explosives, 50 armed people. They did realize that some kind of extreme measure would have to be used, and from the beginning, there was always the expectation that there would be bloodshed at the end of the crisis.

What has been the point of anger is the we that the authorities dealt with it in the wake of operation. The lack of information given to people about loved ones, the lack of information given in particular about what chemical agent was used so that doctors could have treated those injured more speedily and more effectively.

So the anger is directed more at what happened after the operation than the operation itself, and at this stage, President Putin still being supported for the decision to end that hostage crisis by force. Many Russians still say that he said no option, but to ensure that the terrorists did not succeed.

SAVIDGE: It's hard to see what options he had. All right, thank you very much, Mike Hanna, from Moscow. 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 - 13:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: There is more today on the gas that was used by Russian troops who stormed a Moscow theater to end a hostage crisis. The gas is blamed for all but two of the hostage deaths, and now, U.S. officials say, it may have been a heroine or morphine-based agent. Doctors say patients are responding to a treatment that's normally used for drug overdoses. We'll get an update on the hostage siege and its fallout from CNN's Mike Hanna, who now joins us from Moscow.
And, Mike, how is this playing out in Moscow as far as what was a rescue turned tragedy?

MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, very much so, Marty, and today, of course, is a national day of mourning, remembering those that died as a result of that hostage siege, 117 people, 115 of these dying as a result of complications arising out of the gas they inhaled, gas that the rescuers used to save their lives, effectively. In the early hours of Saturday morning, some kind of substance was pumped into the theater where the Chechen separatists were holding some 800 people. Large concentrations of whatever the agent was used, aimed to immediately immobilize the Chechen captures, as they had threatened to detonate explosives should the police storm the building.

While security forces went into the building, they succeeded in immobilizing the Chechen separatists, but also, they gassed a large number of people. Dead bodies poured out, and the death toll, as a I said, as result of that gas, 115 people.

In addition, there's it's of people still in hospital receiving treatment. Doctors were not told what the agent was, and this has created a great storm of anger as well.

Getting back to that siege, earlier, we spoke to one person who was there when the Russian forces stormed in, and this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREI NAUMOV, SURVIVOR: I saw smoke, and it smelled like smoke, like a burning approximately, but I think it was not gas; it was only smoke. The gas was invisible, and without taste, without smell. It wasn't visible, and I couldn't see and taste it, but after these gas, I laid on the floor, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I laid and remembered nothing, only that I woke up in hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HANNA: Confirmation there that that substance was odorless, that it was colorless, and reports that we've been hearing from the U.S., from the Pentagon sources there, that it could have been some form of chemical agent with a same chemical structure as heroin or opium. In other words, it's a hallucinogenic that was used in this particular the operation. Russia not saying what they used, insisting that they will not divulge what are essentially very important secrets that they say must be kept away from terrorists, should they have to use the substance again.

But this doesn't satisfy some in Russia, particularly some parliamentarians. This is what the head of the Parliamentary Defense Committee has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXEI ARBATOV, DEP. CHIEF PARLIAMENT MEMBER: I blames the authorities for not providing the doctors with anecdotes and the instructions how to use them. And that is certainly a great blunder and many people are paying for that blunder with their health, and some even with their life. That is something which should be investigated, and people, authorities responsible for that, should be punished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNA: A direct accusation from a parliamentarian that the lack of information given by the authorities led directly to the loss of lives that should not have happened -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: And the reaction from the Russian people, is it targeted against the terrorists who were initially responsible, or are they angry with the President Putin?

HANNA: Well, I think that one must be very clear about this. The actual action, the end of that hostage siege, few people are criticizing that. They realize that a very, very complicated situation there, the presence of explosives, 50 armed people. They did realize that some kind of extreme measure would have to be used, and from the beginning, there was always the expectation that there would be bloodshed at the end of the crisis.

What has been the point of anger is the we that the authorities dealt with it in the wake of operation. The lack of information given to people about loved ones, the lack of information given in particular about what chemical agent was used so that doctors could have treated those injured more speedily and more effectively.

So the anger is directed more at what happened after the operation than the operation itself, and at this stage, President Putin still being supported for the decision to end that hostage crisis by force. Many Russians still say that he said no option, but to ensure that the terrorists did not succeed.

SAVIDGE: It's hard to see what options he had. All right, thank you very much, Mike Hanna, from Moscow. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com