'At least 1,500 held in Russian school siege'

A hostage released from a provincial Russian school said there are at least 1,500 people being held there by armed militants, the Izvestia newspaper reported today, and a local legislator announced a similar figure challenging far-lower official numbers.

Russian officials had said that about 350 people were being held by raiders who seized the school in the North Ossetian city of Beslan on Wednesday.