THE STORMING.

Early on the morning of October 26, Russian special forces–employing some form of poisoned gas–stormed the Theater Center at Dubrovka in Moscow, killing a reported fifty Chechen Wahhabi terrorists, including their leader, field commander Movsar Baraev, and, according to the most recent reports by the Russian Ministry of Health, at least 118 Russians and foreigners being held hostage (AP, October 27). Three or four of the Wahhabi fighters were taken into custody. Of the more than 750 hostages rescued, 646 had to be hospitalized (Grani.ru, October 27). Of those, according to CNN on October 27, some forty-five to sixty were in serious condition and possibly in danger of death. Another 200 were in intensive care.