The three-day school siege in Russia is continuing after a day of dramatic and bloody clashes with reports of up to 150 people dead. At least three gunmen, including their leader, are holed up inside the school. The Interfax agency said they were holding children hostage. The agency reported that 150 people had died and more than 400 children were injured. Dozens of the dead were found in the school gym where gunmen held up to 1,500 children, teachers and parents. The Russian security service FSB said 20 rebels were killed and claimed 10 of them were of Arab rather than Chechen descent.
The soldiers stormed the building after the gunmen opened fire on a group of children who were trying to escape. A Russian security chief said they had not planned to go in. As the school turned into a battleground, other children began to stream out. Then, it seems, the roof which had been mined by the rebels exploded and crashed to the ground. Other hostages were pulled free and collapsed outside, exhausted, shocked and disorientated. Sky's Rachel Amatt, reporting from the school, said the situation descended into chaos with parents flooding into the school grounds as the fighting continued.It is understood that several of the hostage-takers managed to escape and were pursued by Russian tanks and special forces. One freed hostage said a female suicide bomber accidently set off an explosion before Russian soldiers stormed the building. An armed group of about 40 men and women had entered the school on Wednesday during a start-of-term celebration. They freed 32 people, including several described as infants, on Thursday. Fifteen hostages were allowed out on Wednesday.