Monday, July 4, 2011
Assignment
Imagine that you are a teacher teaching at the School Number One in Beslan North Ossetia-Alania when terrorists stormed the classroom. Write a personal recount of the incident and how the situation could be handled better.(At least 300 words and post it as a comment below stating your group members)
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Class had begun as per normal. The class was well-behaved and there was an eerie silence surrounding the class. I set an assignment for the class as I walked around to help them.
ReplyDeleteSuddenly, I could hear gunfire coming from the other parts of the school. Immediately I asked the children to get up and start escaping through the window and run. Two masked gunmen appeared, firing at random. I tried to delay them as I weaved through the bullets. However, I knew I couldn't hold them off for long and I soon took a shot to the leg. I laid down and feigned dead and the gunmen ignored me. I just pray the kids are safe..
I am a teacher teaching at School Number One in Beslan North Ossetia-Alania. On the 3rd of September 2004, terrorists stormed my classroom and were armed with guns. My students all screamed and some began wetting their pants. I remember the first phrase they said was, “ON THE FLOOR NOW!!!!!” Everybody, including me did as we were told as we feared for our lives. The militants or their accomplices constructed a "sniper's nest" position on the sports hall roof in advance. SNO in Beslan was used by Ossetian militia forces as an internment camp for ethnic Ingush civilians in late 1992 during the short but bloody Ingush–Ossetian East Prigorodny conflict, in which hundreds of Ingush residents of North Ossetia lost their lives or disappeared during the week-long hostilities, and thus the school was arguably chosen as the target of the attack by the mostly-Ingush rebel group because of this connection. After the bloody conclusion of the crisis, many of the injured died in the only hospital in Beslan, which was highly unprepared to cope with the casualties, before the patients were sent to better-equipped facilities in Vladikavkaz. Relatives were not allowed to visit hospitals where the wounded were treated. It was a mass of panic and confusion and I hope that our countries security will be tightened so that future such events never occur again.
ReplyDeleteGroup Comprising of: Kenny Chee, Gavin Lam and Poh Jin An.
I was teaching at School Number One in Beslan North Ossetia-Alania when I heard shuffling of boots. Then came the sudden gunshot and terrorists barged through the door. “Get down, everyone!” I shouted. The atmosphere immediately became tense as my students crouched down in fear. No doubt feeling scared myself, I told my students to stay calm and not panic. I started singing a song to ease the tension and hope that my students would follow suit. That was when I noticed a laser-light targeted towards my forehead, followed by a “KEEP QUIET!” I compiled, now totally at a loss for there was nothing for me to do except await the oncoming death. For many days, I suffered. Just when all hope was lost, the Russian army arrived and saved us.
ReplyDeleteHowever, their rescue operation was very unprofessional. They were using rocket-propelled grenades against the terrorists holding up in the building, which killed and injured many hostages as well. The hospital in our town was also ill-equipped to handle the influx of injured hostages, and many of them died there. I feel that such rescue operations should be done with at least some semblance of minimizing collateral damage, and that the hospital should at least be upgraded.
Liao Weixiang, Keifer Lim, Sunny Sun, Isaac Lim
Done by Wan Wei Herng, Cai Qizheng and Teo Po Han
ReplyDeleteOk, so I am teaching in Beslan. The day was very normal. The students greeted me, and I taught them math . I gave them an assignment to do, and I left the classroom for a toilet break. When I got back, we had out tea break. It was still very early, we start school at 5am. Suddenly, I hear gunfire. Bullet holes appeared on the walls, and windows were broken. All the students started screaming. I tried to calm them down, but they are out of control. Al bullet bounced off the ceiling and shattered on the children’s knee. I was completely stunned. I yelled at them to stay low. After a while, the gunfire died down, and I thought I was safe. However, I was proven wrong as armed men came in and told us to stay down if we want to live.
I am a teacher in School Number One. I enjoy my job very much, and the children under my guidance are very obedient, sweet and lovable. The school was a relatively safe place with many security guards stationed at the various exits of the compound, so never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that such a thing could happen. The disaster was a nightmare for all of us, and especially for the children, who are now still traumatized by the incident, and visit the school counselor from time to time to seek help. The chaos that ensued in September 2004 is still a very painful memory that continues to linger in my mind.
ReplyDeleteLessons had started as per normal, but the peace was disrupted by sudden bursts of gunfire. Men with balaclavas covering their faces stormed into the room and pointed their weapons at us. They screamed at us to keep quiet and shot a child who could not stop crying and screaming out of fear. As we all crowded around the dead body on the floor, many of the children started to weep silently. That image is one I will never forget due to the sheer horror of the events that were taking place. We were all herded into the gymnasium and we spent the next few days there, with insufficient food and water; just enough to keep us alive. The events were scary, and I hope that our government can do more to patch things up with the Chechens and ensure our safety for decades and centuries to come.
Jeremy Yeo
Bryan Phee
:D
Peiyu's group(taken from my email)
ReplyDeleteI am a teacher of School Number One in Beslan North Ossetia-Alania. On 1st of September, a lot of unknown terrorists with guns entered each classroom and forced everyone to move into the gym. Suddenly, the gym was crowded with over hundreds of people with a large percent of them were students. Those terrorists install bombs around the gym and allocate other hostages in the basement. They even used mines around the school to prevent the attack of the government. Some of the male teachers tried to control the situation and fight back to the terrorists. However, they failed and got executed. Our gymnasium, where most of the estimated 1,200 hostages were to spend 52 hours of captivity, measured 10 metres wide and 25 metres long. Security official says authorities have established contact with hostage-takers at this afternoon. Emergencies ministry workers approach school with agreement of militants to retrieve bodies of dead hostages that have been lying in front of school for two days. Later reports suggest that 10 to 20 hostages may have been executed by this stage in addition to the earlier fatalities. There are two large explosions from inside the school followed by gunfire. There were many claims as of what caused the explosions. Whatever the cause of the explosions, hostages took the explosions as a signal to flee and militants then open fire on them. Security forces return fire and lead 30 women and children to safety. Some of the militants try to flee the building. Some of us managed to flee to the building and got saved by the army. The gym collapsed after a while I run out of the school with my student. I think if the government can make some of the requirement of the terrorists, there would not be such large death tolls. The army can use those requirements to lure the terrorists, and can save more hostages.