Four gunmen in southern Russia were still holding four schoolboys and three other hostages early Saturday after receiving a ransom of $10 million in exchange for some of their captives.
The gunmen, demanding to be flown to Iran, commandeered an Mi8 transport helicopter after storming into a classroom in the city of Rostov Thursday and seizing a dozen schoolchildren and their teacher.The helicopter took them and most of their hostages, ages 15 and 16, to the northern Caucasus town of Mineralniye Vody where officials said it was grounded by bad weather.
A government official said five schoolgirls were freed from the helicopter at Mineralniye Vody after the $10 million ransom was handed over.
"In exchange for the money, they freed all of the girls. Four boys and a bus driver are still with them plus two members of the (helicopter) crew," said the official from Russia's State Committee on Emergencies.
First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets, speaking on Commonwealth television, said the kidnappers were behaving aggres-sive-ly and their future actions could not be predicted.
"All the necessary actions on our part have been taken," he said, adding that anti-terrorist troops were in place. He also said he believed the gunmen's hopes of getting to Iran would not materialize.
The official at the State Committee on Emergencies said the kidnappers wanted to leave for Makhachkala, capital of the southern Russian republic of Dagestan.