Victims want to know more

The case of Nurpashi Kulayev charged with involvement in the attack on school No 1 in Beslan continued to be heard in Vladikavkaz today. One more victim of the terrorist act, 32-year-old Marina Zhukayev who had all that time been connected to a medical ventilation apparatus in a Vladikavkaz hospital, was learnt to have died before the sitting began.

Two of the victims questioned today told the court they thought the explosion had occurred not inside the gymnasium, but outside it. Irina Dzutsev said the blast had thrown her away from the window to the centre of the gymnasium. Approximately the same happened to Fatima Gutiyev. "The explosives were hanging right over me, so if they had detonated, I would have been left without my head," Fatima said.

Victim Zemphira Agayev who was taken hostage together with her nine-year-old son confirmed the version that weapons had been in the school before the seizure. Under the floor in the school lobby, Zemphira saw a "huge pile of weapons guarded by a man with a scar. There were long and short pale-green boxes."

Zemphira's son, Georgii, was killed, but Zemphira continues to believe her son is alive. "Many think we are all crazy here, but I am sane. I know how they did all that (DNA examination) and I haven't seen my son dead." This is how Zemphira described the moment of the onslaught on the school: "I came to myself after the second explosion in the gymnasium, everything was quiet. No one was rescuing us. Then, in a couple of minutes, it became so hot in the gymnasium, it seemed we were roasted. Then someone carried me out. Well, basically, but for the militia, a lot more would have been killed there."

Today's court hearing has caused a lot of questions regarding the right of victims to ask questions that are not directly related to the Kulayev case. Victims think many questions were turned down unjustly by the chief justice at the previous sitting. Defence lawyer Taimuraz Chejemov tries to protect victims' rights and he receives support from Beslan residents. "I am a 2nd category invalid after Beslan and it was difficult for me to come here. I didn't see Kulayev in the school and they don't let me speak about those I saw," Irina Dzutsev said at the trial.

The next hearing of the Beslan terrorist act case will take place on 4 August.

• New evidence given on Beslan