Europe

European court rules against Russia over 2004 school siege

Associated Press
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FILE - In this Monday, Sept. 6, 2004 file photo Fedosya Beroyeva, grand mother of 10-year old twins, Soslan, right, and Aslan, killed in the school hostage taking, cries holding their portraits as their mother Zalina, left, looks at Aslan's body during the twins' funeral in Beslan, Russia. The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday, April 13, 2017, that Russia failed to adequately protect victims of a 2004 school siege in the city of Beslan that left more than 300 people dead. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE In this Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 file photo Alina, 7, left, injured during the school siege in Beslan that ended with the deaths of at least 330 hostages, mourns together with her relatives for her 12-year-old brother Akhsarbek Tskayev, who was killed in the incident, in a cemetery in Beslan, Russia. The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday, April 13, 2017, that Russia failed to adequately protect victims of a 2004 school siege in the city of Beslan that left more than 300 people dead. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004 file photo an elderly woman cries in a ruined gym in the school, scene of the hostage crisis, in Beslan, Russia. The European Court of Human Rights said Thursday, April 13, 2017, that Russia failed to adequately protect victims of a 2004 school siege in the city of Beslan that left more than 300 people dead. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File) (The Associated Press)

The European Court of Human Rights says that Russia failed to adequately protect victims of a 2004 school siege in the city of Beslan that left more than 300 people dead.

More than half the hostages killed were children.

In a ruling Thursday, the France-based court said authorities did not take necessary preventive measures to save lives. It said the security forces' use of tank cannon, grenade launchers and flame-throwers contributed to casualties among the hostages. It noted failures to increase security before the attack despite imminent threats against schools in the area.

Armed radical Islamic assailants seized the school on the first day of class, prompting a long standoff that ended in explosions and gunfire.