Diana Gadzhinova, 14-year-old girl hostage:

"It took us all by surprise. We were told there would be talks and we were ordered to lie face down in the gym... Then there was an explosion in the yard. Then there was shooting... My sister and I stayed where we were, lying on the floor. But, suddenly, there was another explosion above us and part of the ceiling fell in.

People were screaming, there was panic. I looked up and saw some children lying on the floor, covered in blood and not moving. There was a dead lady lying beside me. Torn-off arms and legs were lying everywhere. There were bombs hanging on the rope they'd strung up between the basketball hoops, across the gym. And now these bombs began going off, one after the other, coming closer and closer to us. Anyone who could get up ran screaming to the windows and the back entrance corridor. Alina and I were near a window”.

Both sisters managed to escape unwounded.

<< Back to Eyewitnesses