editorial comment Quote: “The concentration of drugs in bodies of some militants exceeded the lethal dose". Well, they should have been dead by then.....

The terrorists who took hostages at a Beslan secondary school on September 1, were addicted to narcotics, according to a statement by Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General, Nikolay Shepel.

According to Russian news agencies, Nikolay Shepel said forensic tests on the terrorists showed most of the hostage takers were on hard drugs such as heroin and morphine, while others were using softer drugs.

Shepel indicated a comprehensive forensic medical examination of 32 terrorists showed 22 were long term addicts, who had regularly injected heroin and morphine during and before the hostage taking.

“The concentration of drugs in bodies of some militants exceeded the lethal dose, which showed that they were drug addicts for long and kept using drugs during preparations for the terrorist act,” said Shepel, in a statement published by Itar-Tass news agency.

Nikolay Shepel believes the fact that the terrorists were under the influence of narcotics throughout the siege contributed to the massacre.

The terrorist act claimed the lives of 344 people, more than half were children, hundreds of others were wounded.

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