Video of Russian school siege released

Shocking new footage, recorded possibly on the first day of the Beslan siege by the hostage-takers, shows terrorists dressed in military camouflage turning the crowded hall into something akin to a human booby-trap.

Textbooks appear to have been turned into the very detonators which killed more than 350 people, some of whom were probably pictured in these haunting scenes.

Even the basketball net is wired to explosives and every deadly device is pictured in close-up, illustrating the way terrorists are now determined to have their atrocities replayed across the world’s media.

The footage, which Russian network NTV television said was from a videotape recorded by the assailants, showed hundreds of hostages crowded around the walls of the cramped area.

Most of the hostages, including men, women and children, are sitting down, some with their hands on their heads.

Wire is rigged up close to tiny feet, some children have stripped off clothes in the unbearable heat while some of the youngest infants are being carried somewhere by older women.

The camera zooms in on a masked raider pointing to his foot above a book, thought to be a detonator.

There are few close-ups of the hostages themselves, just glimpses of their bewilderment as the camera swings across to the next bomb or gun-toting kidnapper.

One is seen clad head-to-toe in black, a pistol in one hand and her other fist clutched, while, at her foot, a boy blinks wide-eyed innocence straight into the camera.

Bomb-making paraphernalia lies strewn everywhere, while blood is smeared on the odd bit of floor still visible in the crowded hall.

The kidnappers seized control of the school on the first day of the new academic year on Wednesday, forcing more than 1,000 children and adults into the gymnasium.

The captors were Muslim separatists, including Arab mercenaries, who demanded a Russian withdrawal of troops from Chechnya.

Many were killed when a wave of explosions were triggered by the militants, possibly by accident, as emergency workers entered the school courtyard on Friday to collect corpses of those killed in the initial raid.

The blasts tore through the gymnasium roof and debris rained down on hostages. As survivors attempted to escape, the militants opened fire.