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CNN Saturday Morning News
Predawn Raid Ends Moscow Hostage Crisis
Aired October 26, 2002 - 08:14 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That siege is over in Moscow and that's where we're headed now. That is a predawn raid. It ended a three day hostage stand-off that saw Chechen rebels threatening to kill hundreds of theatergoers. At least 67 hostages and around 34 of the captors were killed.
CNN's Mike Hanna live from our Moscow bureau to sort all this out for us -- Mike, what's the latest from there?
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov has described this operation as a brilliant success. In the early hours of the morning at about half past six, Russian special forces stormed the theater building where more than 700 people had been held by Chechen rebels for the past 58 hours. They went into that building and during that operation they killed 34 of the Chechen rebels. This, according to the Russian authorities.
Among the dead, the leader of the Chechen rebel gang, Movsar Barayev, a man in his mid-20s.
The method of using subduing the hostage takers not clear. The Russians not discussing that at present. They did manage to prevent those Chechen rebels from detonating explosives that they had piled around the inside of the theater and, indeed, strapped to their bodies.
But the success comes from the fact, say the Russians, that 750 hostages were rescued from this operation, although 67 hostages were killed, either during or before the operation was launched. But the fact that hundreds were brought out safely is being regarded by the Russian authorities as a successful conclusion to the saga -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: I guess, you know, if you're obviously a family member of the 64, you might have a different interpretation of all that. But clearly that's the spin for the moment. Tell us a little bit about this use of sleeping gas, widely reported, and yet we're still having some difficult time kind of pinning this down. Tell us what we know.
HANNA: Well, what we do know is what the Russians have said. The deputy interior minister saying that a special substance was used. Now, how it was got into that theater, whether it was introduced into the air conditioning or whatever way, we do not know. We do not know what form of gas it was or if, indeed, it was a gas. What we do know is seeing some of those hostages coming out, very few of them were able to walk on their own. They had to be assisted. Some of them had to be carried. Clearly this was a major incapacitating type of element that subdued everybody in that theater very, very quickly. We do not have any idea what it was used and, quite frankly, Miles, the Russians are not going to be releasing any details about whatever substance was used to be able to subdue the terrorists inside that theater before they could detonate explosives. Many of them reportedly had their fingers on the triggers of trigger devices to set off those explosives. So whatever it was, it incapacitated people very, very quickly -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Boy, that's very, it's fascinating, is what it is.
All right, Mike Hanna at our Moscow bureau. We'll try to figure out what that agent was. I guess I can understand why they would want to play that one close to the vest.
All right, we appreciate it, Mike.
We'll check in with you later.
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 26, 2002 - 08:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That siege is over in Moscow and that's where we're headed now. That is a predawn raid. It ended a three day hostage stand-off that saw Chechen rebels threatening to kill hundreds of theatergoers. At least 67 hostages and around 34 of the captors were killed.
CNN's Mike Hanna live from our Moscow bureau to sort all this out for us -- Mike, what's the latest from there?
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov has described this operation as a brilliant success. In the early hours of the morning at about half past six, Russian special forces stormed the theater building where more than 700 people had been held by Chechen rebels for the past 58 hours. They went into that building and during that operation they killed 34 of the Chechen rebels. This, according to the Russian authorities.
Among the dead, the leader of the Chechen rebel gang, Movsar Barayev, a man in his mid-20s.
The method of using subduing the hostage takers not clear. The Russians not discussing that at present. They did manage to prevent those Chechen rebels from detonating explosives that they had piled around the inside of the theater and, indeed, strapped to their bodies.
But the success comes from the fact, say the Russians, that 750 hostages were rescued from this operation, although 67 hostages were killed, either during or before the operation was launched. But the fact that hundreds were brought out safely is being regarded by the Russian authorities as a successful conclusion to the saga -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: I guess, you know, if you're obviously a family member of the 64, you might have a different interpretation of all that. But clearly that's the spin for the moment. Tell us a little bit about this use of sleeping gas, widely reported, and yet we're still having some difficult time kind of pinning this down. Tell us what we know.
HANNA: Well, what we do know is what the Russians have said. The deputy interior minister saying that a special substance was used. Now, how it was got into that theater, whether it was introduced into the air conditioning or whatever way, we do not know. We do not know what form of gas it was or if, indeed, it was a gas. What we do know is seeing some of those hostages coming out, very few of them were able to walk on their own. They had to be assisted. Some of them had to be carried. Clearly this was a major incapacitating type of element that subdued everybody in that theater very, very quickly. We do not have any idea what it was used and, quite frankly, Miles, the Russians are not going to be releasing any details about whatever substance was used to be able to subdue the terrorists inside that theater before they could detonate explosives. Many of them reportedly had their fingers on the triggers of trigger devices to set off those explosives. So whatever it was, it incapacitated people very, very quickly -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Boy, that's very, it's fascinating, is what it is.
All right, Mike Hanna at our Moscow bureau. We'll try to figure out what that agent was. I guess I can understand why they would want to play that one close to the vest.
All right, we appreciate it, Mike.
We'll check in with you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
