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Conditions inside theatre worsen
MOSCOW, Russia -- What little is known about the conditions inside the Moscow theatre where gunmen are holding up to 700 people has come from the hostages themselves. After two days under siege, conditions inside the building are beginning to deteriorate. A hot water pipe is known to have burst and is flooding the ground floor. To make matters worse, captives are having to use the theatre's orchestra pit as a toilet, and while the hostage-takers have accepted supplies of medical supplies from the authorities they have refused to accept hot food and hostages say they are not being given food and water. To add to the tension, Yelena Malyonkina -- a spokeswoman for the "Nord Ost" musical that was being staged in the theatre -- said she had been in contact with a captive official from the production, Anatoly Glazychev, who told her that explosives had been placed in the centre of the theatre and all the aisles and stage had been mined. "Both the terrorists and hostages are nervous," Glazychev said, according to Malyonkina. Chechen gunmen stormed the theatre and its stage on Wednesday night during a performance the popular Russian musical. They say they will free the hostages if Russia ends the war in Chechnya. In the initial confusion some members of the audience, which includes an estimated 75 non-Russians from 14 countries, and the production staff, managed to escape. One woman who escaped said she had seen "a lot of blood in the corridors." (Full story) On Friday, Russia's NTV correspondents were allowed to accompany a doctor inside the theatre. Dr Leonid Roshal, head of the Medical Center for Catastrophes who accompanied the crew, said the hostages were trying to keep calm and that only two or three were hysterical. He said he had treated the hostages for various minor ailments -- including eye trouble, coughing and hypertension -- and left behind some medication before emerging from the theater early on Friday. "In general, the situation is calm," he told NTV. Some of the hostages have also been allowed to use mobile telephones to contact Russia media outlets and news agencies. Anna Adrianova, one of the hostages, told Ekho Moskvy radio early on Friday: "We are safe and sound, it's warm and we have water and there's nothing else we need in a situation like this." Another hostage said the situation was tense inside the theatre, and that conditions were growing worse. Child heart specialist Maria Shkolnikova has also managed to speak to Ekho Moskvy and the Reuters news agency. She told Reuters: "A huge amount of explosives have been laid through the place." Shkolnikova said explosives had been laid in passageways and on seats and even attached to hostages themselves. Two reporters from the Italian news agency Ansa, who were freed from the theatre on Thursday, said the group's leader had threatened to kill 10 people an hour if his demands were not met. They quoted one of the captors as saying: "We can resist as long as we want. We are ready to die, we want an absolute end to the war and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya." The Chechen news Web site www.kavkaz.org issued a statement by the attackers' commander, Movsar Barayev. It said: "No-one will get out of here alive and they'll die with us if there's any attempt to storm the building." The Web site said the hostage-takers were prepared to stay for a week. Mark Harris, of the London-based Control Risks Group, a business consultancy operation, said both the hostages and the hostage-takers would be feeling the psychological strain of their situation. He said the size of the hostage group -- believed to be up to 700 people -- would also plays its part. (Pressure) He told CNN: "I think the main thing about it is that depending on how many actual hostage takers there are, they are going to have to look at how they secure everybody and they may well want to start looking at the idea of bringing down the size (of the hostage group). "Obviously, it's going to take up a lot of resources, a lot of water, food and care. " Earlier on Friday, eight children were released after Red Cross officials restarted negotiations. (Full story) The release of the children, between the ages of 6 and 12, came after seven Russian citizens were released. In all, 52 people have either been released or have escaped. "We cannot give the names of the released people. They are in the crisis centre. Medical aid is being provided to them," Sergei Ignatchenko, a spokesman for the Federal Security Service (FSB), told Russia's Interfax news agency.
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