'100 bodies' in gym
Reports coming from the scene of a bloody battle to free the Russian hostages trapped in a school say there are up to 100 bodies inside the building.
Fighting is continuing in part of the site, with three hostage takers apparently still fighting Russian troops.
Women and children were seen fleeing from the scene in Beslan, southern Russia, this morning amid sustained gunfire and explosions.
Hundreds more people have been taken to hospital and paramedics were seen rushing into the building.
Amid chaotic scenes civilians rushed into the building while the fighting continued in an attempt to rescue survivors. One group of people is reported to have attacked a terrorist.
At least 10 of the militants have been killed. However, some of the attackers did manage to escape, with gun battles taking place elsewhere in the town.
A number of Chechen rebels barricaded themselves into a residential house where another battle began.
The fighting is believed to have started after a bus entered the premises to collect some dead bodies. A group of hostages tried to escape, sparking a gun battle and forcing Russian forces to take action.
Commandos blew a hole in the wall of the school to help the captives flee.
One survivor said that there was no food or water in the building and that children had been drinking their own urine.
Earlier today, one local politician told a public meeting he feared 1,000 people were being held and a teacher released by the gunmen said there were at least 1,500 - far more than the 350 claimed by the authorities.
She told the Izvestia newspaper: "On television they say there are 350 of us. That's not right. There's not less than 1,500 in the school."
One parent held up a placard in front of TV cameras claiming at least 800 are being held.
The armed gang who burst into the school on Wednesday morning - many with explosives strapped to their chests - had refused to allow in fresh supplies of food, water or medicine. The hostages were herded into the school's gymnasium and separated into two groups of men and women with the children.
