16 killed in school terror attack

Heavily armed terrorists, many wearing belts packed with explosives, held more than 350 hostages, including children, through the night at a Russian school. Up to 16 people were thought to have died so far in the attack.

Crowds of distraught relatives and townspeople waited helplessly for news of their neighbours and loved ones, their distress sharpened by the sporadic rattle of gunfire from the cordoned-off crisis site.