Russia storms school

From FoxNews - Russians storm school - gunfire continues.

All the hundreds of hostages had been evacuated from the gymnasium where militants had put them after seizing the building on Wednesday, the Interfax news agency said. About 120 children were believed to be among the 200 wounded in the raid, regional emergency officials said.

An Associated Press reporter heard gunfire throughout the town, and two columns of smoke rose from the school. Four armed men in civilan clothes running from school, and asked if they were looking for someone, one answered, "A militant ran this way."

Some children were covered in blood, some of them carried away to a temporary hospital set up behind an armored personnel carrier. Many were only partly clothed because of the stifling heat in the gymnasium where they had been held since the militants took the building, and drank eagerly from bottles of water given to them once they reached safety.

A nurse spread clean sheets on stretchers, and told AP that Russian officials expected "very many" wounded. In another part of town, several dead were covered with white sheets, and a woman peered under one to see who the slain person was.

Five militants were killed in the raid, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. The Interfax new agency said several militants who escaped the school were in a local residence surrounded by troops.

The assault came after several explosions boomed from the area and dozens of hostages fled the school.

It may be a while before this is all sorted out but my hope is that as many hostages are rescued as possible and that every "militant" is killed in some painful manner.

12:50 PM UPDATE: According to the BBC, the seige is over. Death toll appears 150 or more - considering the fact that the number of hostages has now been estimated as high as 1,200, this could have been far worse. Details are still sketchy, however.

LGF notes that the UK's Guardian is blaming Putin for the deaths. I expect to hear more of this blaming Putin (especially from the E.U., but also from the Old Media here in the U.S.) and less blaming of the Chechen "separatists". It's just another way the media will prove their complicity in this crime against humanity.

On the bright side, Robert Spencer reports that one of the terrorists that was trying to flee was beaten to death by the crowd outside. Hopefully the Russian authorities will turn the rest of the captured terrorists over to this same crowd. At least some of these folks understand applying instantaneous justice.