Gas was only solution, says Moscow siege doctor

A doctor who helped treat the Moscow theatre hostages today defended the use of gas as the only possible solution to the crisis.

Dr Leonid Roshal spoke on the day another hostage – a woman – died, bringing the death toll among victims to at least 120.

He said that the storming the theatre was the only way out of the crisis and praised President Vladimir Putin for having the ”courage” to make the move - the only one that “gave a chance to save lives,”

Dr Roshal, who repeatedly visited the theatre during the to help treat the hostages and deliver medicines, dismissed allegations by some Russian media and experts that many of the victims had died because of the authorities’ failure to quickly evacuate them from the building and treat them with an efficient antidote to cure the effects of the gas.

“I don’t think that any other country could handle it better,” Roshal said, arguing that it was impossible to take 750 victims out of the theatre hall faster than it was done – about 90 minutes.