Russians took control of the theatre in Moscow about 1.5 hours ago.

From what I understand of the situation right now: About 2 hours ago 2 hostages were killed and 2 more wounded. There was a group of hostages which tried to escape shortly therafter... The hostage-takers started firing at the escaping hostages. Russian special forces took that opportunity and stormed the theatre.

Reports right now say there are 'dozens of ambulances' and about 20 bodies were taken out - including that of the leader of the Chechnyan rebels.

I was watching, too, ladymacb.......and they apparently killed the Chechnian head leader (a real torturer, apparently, from a family of such like). A deadline was approaching wherein many of the hostages would have been killed and therefore made their move. No real statistics, yet. The coverage was fascinating. I have this weakness of truly imagining myself, me, in the situation I'm watching from the outside, to really "feel" what's happening there. To be jammed in a theatre with 500-700 folks, at gunpoint, for three days...I'm glad it's over. Unfortunately, they thought some of the hostage takers escaped and there wasn't yet a count on innocent victim deaths.

This situation could have ended much worse than it did, I think, if it had gone on any longer. Sleeping gas was dropped in first by the Russians, I understand, before they blew out a wall and stormed the place. A lot of the people being taken out unconcious were actually under the effects of the sleeping gas and uninjured. I heard they killed 37 of the terrorists including the leader and captured the rest of them alive and 67, possibly more, civilians lost their lives. Overall, I think the situation was well handled, considering they were dealing with terrorists who had no qualms about blowing the whole theatre up with themselves and everyone else in it.

I have to revise what I just wrote above. I just visited the CNN website for more recent news and the death toll, civilian and terrorist, are higher than previously indicated. It is actually feared that some of the civilians may have died DUE to the sleeping gas that was pumped in. Such a tragedy, but I still think the Russians handled the situation very well and prevented even more loss of innocent life.

Yeah - I read about that too... But when you think about it, out of all the people who could have died, even without the explosives, such a small number actually did...

The death toll was around 100 last time I checked.
They overdosed the gas in order to knock out the women with bombs strapped to themselves in order so that they wouldn't detonate them.

Apparently it is very chaotic as they haven't done much to inform victims' families of where to find their loved ones.

116 hostages dead of gas, one shot - good mix there, well over a hundred on the critical list. Presumably the outcome is better than explosions but there are still many questions to be answered as to what the gas was, and why the antidote was not given quickly.

From CNN.com:
Information on the type of gas used has been withheld from doctors treating the hostages, hindering their ability to treat the patients with an antidote. (100 still in critical condition)

Okay 116 divided by 800 = 15%. I am certainly glad the hostage situation is over. But, does anyone else think that is a pretty high rate? And it could go higher....

Sorry hadn't read this thread before posting in Controversial.
To use a gas which had only ever been used in the open air on physically fit men has to be a huge mistake by the authorities. It resolved the situation and a large proportion of the hostages have got out alive but at what cost to the others. What long term effects will be have to be endured by them?

I just don't understand how they cannot tell the doctors what type of gas was used! How many more lives will be lost because the patients can't get the appropriate treatment.

It's probably a specialized gas of the Russians' own making and there IS NO antidote!

It's been reported on the news here that the gas used was probably BZ - I'd guess the Russians might want to keep it quiet if that's the case -

"Superhallucinogenic BZ gas was employed as a counterinsurgency weapon on a limited basis during the Vietnam war. The army eventually concluded that shifting wind patterns, BZ's tendency to trigger maniacal behavior, and the difficulties of controlling the amount of BZ absorbed during combat undermined its usefulness as a nonlethal incapacitant. An overdose of BZ could be fatal."

The reports in the French press stated they didn't wish to reveal the gas to avoid future terrorists using the information against them.

Yesterday's paper quoted a Russian physician as saying that the gas was an anesthetic, of the type used in surgery. However, when piped into a room as it was, the concentration of gas cannot be controlled and it will affect different individuals in various ways. And the hostages were of different ages, hadn't had food or water, hadn't had any physical activity, and were under extreme stress. That accounted for the tragic effects. This same physician said there is no specific antidote for anesthesia gas.

I don't know what the alternative to using this gas might have been. They had to do something to end the situation, otherwise more hostages might have died.

This situation reminded me of the standoff in Waco, where the government's tactics completely backfired and wound up killing the people (such as innocent children) they were trying to rescue.

I think that hindsight teaches some sad lessons. The theater hostage situation might occur again, in some other country. Let's hope that governments have learned some valuable information from these past events. Perhaps next time the same mistakes will not be repeated.

Hmm, my knee jerk reaction to it being and anesthesia gas is, what, no antidote? Why they surely have one in hospitals that wake you up after surgery.

On the other hand, one could I suppose consider nerve gas or any other number of gasses a sedative. In my opinion, I find it hard to believe it was ordinary anesthesia gas.

It's just sad that it so backfired. You're right, the Waco episode, and now the theater episode are a perfect examples of good intentions gone wrong. I would hate to believe they knew going in there would be so many casualties.

I hate to put it this way, but if the Russians truly believes that every single hostage was going to be killed, I think they were justified in sending in the gas. If it's either losing 200 people or 1000... I know it's simple math and doesn't take into account what if someone I loved was one of the 200...

I think the Russian government is now saying it was a form of anesthesia gas.

As far as I know, there is no antidote for anesthesia--it is detoxified by the liver and metabolizes out of the body. But that's when it's given in a controlled dose by an anesthesiologist--and they adjust the dose based on the person's vital signs as it's being administered. And afterward the person can be given oxygen and IV fluids.

This gas was just pumped into a room, so different people would absorb differing amounts, and these people were in varying states of health to begin with. It was just an uncontrolled exposure to the gas and it did irreparable damage to many of the hostages. Depending on which bodily organs were affected by the gas, many of those people might not have lived regardless of what kind of prompt medical treatment might have been given.

Using the gas obviously involved a risk, but it still saved many, many lives.