Today, on September 3, the Day of Solidarity in the Fight against Terrorism is celebrated. This memorable date is associated with the tragic events that took place in September 2004 in Beslan.
20 years ago, on September 1, 2004, a terrorist attack was committed during the solemn assembly at School No.1. A group of armed militants took 1,128 people hostages, most of whom were children. The terrorists drove schoolchildren, parents and teachers to the gym, where they held them for two and a half days without food and water. The school was booby-trapped. Chechen separatist leader Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for organizing the attack.
On the afternoon of September 3, explosions occurred in the school gym and a fire broke out. After that, the special services launched an assault. By the evening, it became known about 27 terrorists killed. Nurpasha Kulaev was the only one taken alive. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
As a result of the terrorist attack, 314 people from among the hostages were killed, 186 of them children. In total, 333 people died, including rescuers. At least 783 were injured of varying severity.
We helped as much as we could
In those tragic days, citizens of Tajikistan also responded to the call for help. Anatoly Grazhdankin, one of the activists of the Russian community in the city of Tursunzade, a veteran of the construction of an aluminum plant and the Sangtudin hydroelectric power station, told “Asia-Plus” how employees of the Tajik Aluminum plant helped the victims of the terrorist attack.
According to him, the veterans of Aluminstroy annually gather on September 3 and pay tribute to Beslan, as well as remember their colleague Ruslan Vataev, who moved to his historical homeland after many years of working in this company.
“Ruslan Vataev himself died long before the terrorist attack, but his wife and daughter became victims of those events, – Grazhdankin said. – Ruslan's wife Galina Vataeva worked as a primary school teacher in Tursunzade, and then continued her teaching career at Beslan school No.1, where the tragedy occurred”.
According to him, during the terrorist attack, she managed to hand over her youngest daughter Agunda to those who escaped, but she herself died.
“The wounded daughter was rescued by special forces, Agunda described this event in detail in her diary several years after the tragedy,” – says Grazhdankin.
According to him, in those days when the girl was in the hospital, the grandmother turned to her son's former colleagues in Tajikistan for help. Anatoly Grazhdankin recalls that in 2004, after the tragedy, a letter came to TadAZ on behalf of Ruslan's mother.
“It said that for the recovery of the granddaughter, funds are required for transfer to one of the hospitals in Moscow. She asked her fellow countrymen to help if possible. I consulted with the trade union and the management of the plant and asked them to find funds to help. We decided to appeal to the factory workers. Fortunately, Ruslan Vataev was remembered by many of his colleagues at the plant. As a result, 1,200 TADAZ employees agreed to transfer one-day earnings to help Ruslan's family. The accounting department calculated everything, converted the somoni into dollars at the time exchange rate, it turned out about 7 thousand dollars,” – said Grazhdankin.
Agunda herself also remembers that help.
“Yes, our family is from Tursunzade. I was born there. Dad worked at Aluminstroy. The factory workers transferred financial assistance to us after the terrorist attack. But Grandma didn't write the letter, she's illiterate. It seems that there was an article about her somewhere and they contacted her after that. My sister says that Grazhdankin was a friend of my father. Thanks to him and all the employees who helped us,” – she says.
According to Anatoly Grazhdankin, the tragedy in Beslan did not leave a single resident of Tajikistan indifferent and they all took this pain close to their hearts.
“This act serves as a good example, especially today, when simple human kindness is losing its value, and some forces are trying to disrupt good interethnic relations,” – said Grazhdankin.
