In pictures: The ghosts of Beslan may haunt Sochi
Almost ten years ago, a standoff between Russian security forces and Chechen hostage-takers in a middle school went tragically wrong. The clash left 334 people dead, half of them children. Their relatives fear that Russian officials have failed to learn from their mistakes
Visitors to School Number One, now a memorial site, in Beslan January 25, 2014. A terrorist attack here killed 334 hostages almost 10 years ago.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Diana Murtazova, one of the victims, at her home in Beslan January 25, 2014.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Susana Dudieva, director of the Mothers of Beslan organization, places her hand on the tombstone of her son.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Rita Sidakova at her daughter Alla's grave site in Beslan. Alla died when she was 9 in a terrorist attack at her school almost 10 years ago. 'Putin just wanted to show the terrorists that he could crush them,' she says. 'He refused to negotiate, he refused to recognize our children were inside.'John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Susana Dudieva, Director of the Mothers of Beslan organization at School Number One. No one making decisions during the crisis was ever charged with misconduct, she says.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Susana Dudieva during an interview at her office January 25, 2014. She has been pressing the Russian government to acknowledge its mistakes in the Beslan hostage incident almost ten years ago.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Susana Dudieva fears that Russian authorities may repeat their mistakes in the event of an incident at Sochi. 'Where were our generals looking? Where was Putin looking? Why do these terrorist acts keep happening again and again? Why are the terrorists getting stronger?' she says.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
The cemetery in Beslan, where most of victims from the terrorist attack at at School Number One are buried.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail