Christians joined many people from around the world in Beslan, Russia, to mark the first anniversary of the mass killings when terrorists took Beslan School staff and children hostage on 1 September 2004.
The elementary school was under siege by terrorists from the Russian republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia for three days before they were confronted by authorities. The result ended with massive explosions, gunfire, and fire which killed 331 people, 186 whom were children.
Peter Wooding, a senior news editor for UCB Europe who was representing ASSIST Europe, led a team of British Christians to pay tribute to the victims who lost their lives in the carnage.
In a live report from Beslan, Wooding told James Cantrill at UCB Europe, “...We’ve just come from school number one, where there has been quite a remarkable memorial today. Literally, thousands of people have walked around the school to pay their respects. We walked through the gymnasium where the children were held. There were photographs of the children displayed there. There were mothers just stroking the pictures of their children. There was an echo of wailing and crying. I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life. Words can’t describe how emotional it was.”
“We all have an opportunity as a team and we are all here to link arms and pray for the people who are going through a difficult time. There were world press people here, and you could see many of the camera men and journalists crying today...I went up to one man who was crying his eyes out (he was probably the father or relative of someone who was lost in the siege), and put my arms around him and prayed for him.”
