Families mark second anniversary of Beslan school siege

Children, weeping parents and sombre-faced officials marked the second anniversary of one of Russia’s worst terrorist attacks today, attending tearful ceremonies at the burnt-out shell of Beslan’s School No. 1.

With melancholy music playing over loudspeakers, hundreds filed past photographs and lighted candles in the ravaged husk of the school’s gymnasium where on September 1, 2004, several dozen Islamic militants took 1,128 students, teachers and parents hostage.