Moscow: Russia, on Friday, remembered the victims of the worst terror attack on its soil, even as most of the public believed the truth about Beslan massacre would never be disclosed by authorities who had been accused of botching up the hostage seige.
Two years ago this day, terrorists attacked a secondary school in the sleepy Beslan town of the Caucasian republic of North Ossetia, bordering on restive Chechnya, and took over one thousand students, teachers and parents as hostages.
On the third day of the siege, 332 people, including 186 children were killed in what is widely perceived as a "botched" attempt by the security forces to free them.
On Friday, hundreds swept through security checks to light candles and lay flowers at the ruins of the school.
While the rest of the region marked the beginning of the school year, in Beslan, the ceremonies were put off till Tuesday.
The Russian public, however, is still sceptical about the official version of events of September 1, 2004.
The independent Levada Centre in Moscow found that just five per cent of Russians believe that officials have told the whole truth about Beslan.
An independent investigation published this week will only reinforce public suspicions by challenging key points in the official version of what happened during the three days.
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