At first, all of Beslan’s grief seemed surface in its children. Kids were suddenly afraid to be left alone. Some would manically twist their faces into strange shapes. Others feared the dark. Others cried while they slept. Some went mute. One sad little boy began to meow incessantly. Their trauma began the morning of Sept. 1, 2004, on what should have been the giddy first day of a new school year. But a gang of terrorists swept down on Beslan’s School No. 1 and took 1,200 students, parents and teachers as hostages. They demanded that Russian troops pull out of neighboring Chechnya. A three-day standoff ended in a chaotic series of explosions, gun battles and a fire in the school gymnasium that charred many bodies beyond recognition. Full Story
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