Beslan school siege: Russian authorities criticised for 'serious failings' by European court

"Serious failings" by Russian authorities led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians in the Beslan school attack, a European Court has ruled.

Terrorists held more than 1,000 people captive during the two-day siege in 2004, which left 334 dead and 750 others injured.

The European Court of Human Rights found authorities failed to take preventative measures, despite being "in possession of sufficiently specific information of a planned terrorist attack".

Neither the school nor the public were warned, meaning that security at the school was not increased, the court said.

It added that "insufficient steps" were taken to prevent the terrorists travelling to the school on the day of the atrocity.

A lays flowers in front of a poster of the victims on the third anniversary of the massacre. Credit: AP

Beslan school attack: What happened?

  • In the early hours of 1 September 2004, more than 30 heavily armed Chechen rebels crossed the border between Ingushetia and North Ossetia;

  • At 9am, they stormed the courtyard of Beslan's School Number One while a ceremony was taking place to celebrate the start of the school year;

  • The terrorists - who demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya - rounded up more than 1,100 people into the school gymnasium, including 800 children;

  • Refusing to accept any offers to alleviate the suffering, they executed a number of hostages and by the second day denied drinking water to their victims;

Friends and family members of six children from the same family who were killed in the siege mourn at their gravestones. Credit: AP

  • Security forces surrounded the premises and attempted to negotiate with the terrorists, who made political demands;

  • At 1pm on 3 September, two explosions occurred in the gymnasium, prompting an exchange of gunfire with police;

  • Some hostages were fired at as they tried to escape through a hole in the wall, while others were rounded up in other parts of the school by surviving terrorists;

  • The dead, injured and shell-shocked remained in the gymnasium and amid a huge fire the roof collapsed;

  • After heavy fighting, special forces secured the premises and rescued the surviving hostages;

  • A total of 334 were killed, including 186 children and 12 servicemen;

  • One suspected terrorist was captured, the others were killed.

Security services 'contributed to the casualties'

In Thursday's damning verdict in Strasbourg, the court said security forces "contributed to the casualties among the hostages" when they moved in using "tank cannon, grenade launchers and flamethrowers".

This broke treaty requirements to respect the "right to life" by failing to restrict lethal force "absolutely necessary" levels, the court said.

The court also ordered Russia to pay 2.96 million euros (£2.5 million) in damages and 88,000 euros (£74,697) in legal costs.

Flowers placed around a cross in the remains of the gymnasium. Credit: AP

The Kremlin described the court's conclusion as "unacceptable" and a spokesman said Russia could not agree with its ruling.

A domestic investigation into the attack found the actions of officials were lawful and reasonable - and no causal link was found between their decisions and any negative consequences, the European Court of Human Rights said. This investigation is still pending.

Nurpashi Kulayev, the only surviving hostage-taker, was sentenced to life in prison in 2006.