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Deadly Rescue
Aired October 29, 2002 - 14:09 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: Russian officials are remaining silent about that mysterious and deadly gas they used to end last week's hostage drama in a Moscow theater.
CNN's Mike Hanna joins us now from Moscow with more on that and on the angry fallout as the funerals begin -- Mike.
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, health officials released a statement saying some 400 people have been released from hospital receiving treatment; 245 people remain in hospital receiving treatment for that gas they inhaled in the special forces operation in the early hours of Saturday morning.
In all, 115 people died as a result of that gas inhalation. Another two people were killed by the hostage takers before the operation took place.
And there's mounting anger among Russians about the lack of information given by the Russian authorities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNA: "We have the feeling that our special forces have taken some sort of action." These are the words of a hostage speaking to a Moscow radio station in the early hours of Saturday morning.
"I don't know what type of gas this is," she says, "but I see how people are reacting." The gas was odorless, colorless, and in over 100 cases, deadly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was invisible, and I couldn't see and taste it. But after these gas, I laid on the floor, and I laid and remember nothing, only that I woke up in hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The type of gas and the formula and the substance will always be a secret. And it's actually is not that important. I only can tell you that the gas was not -- didn't have a military origin.
HANNA: Whatever the agent, it had an immensely incapacitating effect. Some hostages managed to stagger out. Many were unconscious and had to be carried. Doctors were puzzled, initial treatment produced no results. Then they tried using Diloxum (ph), also known by its trade name Narcan, used to treat heroin or morphine overdoses. This had a positive effect.
And the supposition of medical officials said the gas used was some form opiate. Several private doctors in Moscow saying the gas had a chemical structure similar to heroin or morphine.
The Chechen hostage takers inside the theater and threatened to detonate explosives. The need then to immediately immobilize them. And to this end, massive concentrations of the gas released inside the building. The decision to do so taken split seconds after it appeared that hostages were being executed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that point, that brief second, the operational headquarters understood that we were going in, we're going to have not a hundred people dead, but we're going to have more than 800 people dead. And that's extremely hard choice. That is courageous choice. And that choice was made.
HANNA: While few have publicly criticized the choice, many have asked angrily why steps were not taken to immediately treat the hostages against whatever gas was used.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The military toxicologist had to be aware that anecdotes had to be injected into the hostages as soon as the building taken over by the special forces, preferably immediately, right in the theater hall where they were laying. That was obviously not done. The beginning of the hostage rescue operation was very successful. But its last stage was a disaster.
HANNA: A disaster that resulted in loss of well over 100 lives. And as the first of the many dead are buried, the dominant question, did so many really need to die?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNA: But, as to the operation itself, the first of public opinion polls has been released, and this poll conducted among some 1,600 Russians shows that 85 percent of those polled support the conduct of President Putin as and the decisions made during that hostage crisis -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Mike Hanna, reporting to us live from Moscow, thanks very much.
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 29, 2002 - 14:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Russian officials are remaining silent about that mysterious and deadly gas they used to end last week's hostage drama in a Moscow theater.
CNN's Mike Hanna joins us now from Moscow with more on that and on the angry fallout as the funerals begin -- Mike.
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, health officials released a statement saying some 400 people have been released from hospital receiving treatment; 245 people remain in hospital receiving treatment for that gas they inhaled in the special forces operation in the early hours of Saturday morning.
In all, 115 people died as a result of that gas inhalation. Another two people were killed by the hostage takers before the operation took place.
And there's mounting anger among Russians about the lack of information given by the Russian authorities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNA: "We have the feeling that our special forces have taken some sort of action." These are the words of a hostage speaking to a Moscow radio station in the early hours of Saturday morning.
"I don't know what type of gas this is," she says, "but I see how people are reacting." The gas was odorless, colorless, and in over 100 cases, deadly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was invisible, and I couldn't see and taste it. But after these gas, I laid on the floor, and I laid and remember nothing, only that I woke up in hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The type of gas and the formula and the substance will always be a secret. And it's actually is not that important. I only can tell you that the gas was not -- didn't have a military origin.
HANNA: Whatever the agent, it had an immensely incapacitating effect. Some hostages managed to stagger out. Many were unconscious and had to be carried. Doctors were puzzled, initial treatment produced no results. Then they tried using Diloxum (ph), also known by its trade name Narcan, used to treat heroin or morphine overdoses. This had a positive effect.
And the supposition of medical officials said the gas used was some form opiate. Several private doctors in Moscow saying the gas had a chemical structure similar to heroin or morphine.
The Chechen hostage takers inside the theater and threatened to detonate explosives. The need then to immediately immobilize them. And to this end, massive concentrations of the gas released inside the building. The decision to do so taken split seconds after it appeared that hostages were being executed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that point, that brief second, the operational headquarters understood that we were going in, we're going to have not a hundred people dead, but we're going to have more than 800 people dead. And that's extremely hard choice. That is courageous choice. And that choice was made.
HANNA: While few have publicly criticized the choice, many have asked angrily why steps were not taken to immediately treat the hostages against whatever gas was used.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The military toxicologist had to be aware that anecdotes had to be injected into the hostages as soon as the building taken over by the special forces, preferably immediately, right in the theater hall where they were laying. That was obviously not done. The beginning of the hostage rescue operation was very successful. But its last stage was a disaster.
HANNA: A disaster that resulted in loss of well over 100 lives. And as the first of the many dead are buried, the dominant question, did so many really need to die?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNA: But, as to the operation itself, the first of public opinion polls has been released, and this poll conducted among some 1,600 Russians shows that 85 percent of those polled support the conduct of President Putin as and the decisions made during that hostage crisis -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Mike Hanna, reporting to us live from Moscow, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
