Four masked gunmen held several children and four adults hostage Friday in a helicopter packed with explosives, demanding $10 million and safe passage to Iran.
The hijackers threatened to begin killing hostages if they did not get the money, Russian television reported on the second day of the drama.The Russian government agreed to pay the $10 million in U.S. currency, and a security officer delivered the money from Moscow to Mineralnye Vody airport this afternoon. But it was not immediately handed over to the hijackers, according to Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets.
Viktor Gerashchenko, chairman of Russia's Central Bank, told reporters in Moscow that it was not easy for the government to gather so much foreign cash on short notice.
"The country's leadership quite correctly considers human life to be its top priority. There is nothing more valuable than life, especially the lives of innocent children," he said.
Commandos of the former KGB's elite "Alpha" unit and other troops also arrived Friday at the airport in Mineralnye Vody, 800 miles south of Moscow. But there was no sign of a rescue attempt.
Several children were released during tense negotiations, and it was unclear exactly how many people remained on the Mi-8 military helicopter.
Authorities said they believed it held the four gunmen, two pilots, a schoolteacher, a bus driver and six children. The hijackers allowed authorities to provide hot food and blankets for the children.
Earlier Friday, the gunmen ordered the helicopter to take off, but it landed again an hour later after circling Mineralnye Vody. Russian TV said they were forced to turn around by helicopters carrying commandos, but Security Ministry spokesman Alexei Kandaurov said bad weather kept the aircraft from heading south toward Iran.
"The bandits are changing their demands and conditions every minute, and they could change their destination, too. They don't really know what they want," Maxim Peshkov, a Russian Foreign Ministry official, said.
In Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry expressed "deep concern over the ugly and indecent act of hijacking several innocent children" and said that nation would cooperate with Russia to save the children.