September 1 — a terrorist detachment led by Rasul Khachbarov, numbering more than 30 people, seized the building of Secondary General Education School No. 1. During the ceremonial assembly in the schoolyard, armed men, firing over the heads of those gathered, began herding everyone present into the building. Only a few managed to avoid becoming hostages by taking advantage of the panic.
For 3 days, the terrorists held more than a thousand people inside the school building—children, their parents, and school staff. For more than 50 hours spent in captivity inside the school, the terrorists denied them water, food, and necessary medicines. Any attempts to negotiate with the terrorists in a constructive manner and resolve the issue of freeing the hostages without the use of force proved unsuccessful. The only person the militants agreed to let into the school building the next day was the former President of the Republic of Ingushetia, Ruslan Aushev. He managed to persuade the captors to release with him only 25 women and small children.
On September 3, a spontaneously initiated operation to free the hostages was carried out. “Tree of Sorrow” in Beslan. As a result of the terrorist attack, more than 350 people were killed—children, local residents, and officers of the FSB of the Russian Federation. The remaining hostages (more than 560 people), in addition to the injuries sustained during the assault on the school building, experienced severe psychological trauma. Thirty-one terrorists were killed, one was detained and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment—Nurpasha Kulayev.
On September 17, 2004, the Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev publicly claimed responsibility for the Beslan attack. The school building, after the liberation operation and as a result of the detonation of explosives possessed by the terrorists, was almost completely destroyed.