Children return to Beslan schools after siege

Children clutching their mothers' hands, some with tears in their eyes, returned to schools in Beslan amid heavy security yesterday, two weeks after a hostage massacre at a school in the town. Sniffer dogs and bomb experts scoured the schools before they were reopened, but the efforts failed to reassure the more than three-quarters of students who stayed away.

Those who turned up said they were nervous, but determined to forge ahead after a two-day siege by Chechen rebels at school No. 1 ended with the deaths of more than 320 hostages - half of them children. Hundreds more were injured.

"I don't want to surrender to my mood," said Svetlana Zukurova, one of many mothers sitting in class alongside their children.

"I don't want my child to develop fear of life's difficulties, fear of the terrible disaster which has united us all. Let our children learn and become kind people, who can be forgiving and compassionate."

Beslan's six remaining schools were under armed guard, but security fears and shock kept most pupils away. At school No. 2, only 10 per cent of 900 students turned up, and at school No. 6 around 20 per cent showed up.

"We came to school today to learn, and we will study well," said first-year pupil Murat Pliyev. One of his fellow newcomers was sobbing.