'Dozens freed' from Russia school siege

Chechen fighters released 26 women and children this afternoon from the school in southern Russia where they are holding more than 350 hostages.

Chechen fighters released 26 women and children this afternoon from the school in southern Russia where they are holding more than 350 hostages.

Lev Dzugayev, an aide to the North Ossetian president, said three women and three infants were released. His announcement sparked gasps from the crowd, which crushed toward him to find out who was freed.

It was not immediately clear if those were counted among the 26 released hostages reported minutes later by the rescue-operation headquarters.

An Associated Press Television News reporter saw two women and at least three children, the children in the soldiers' arms, and APTN footage showed five women and three children. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

Russian television showed camouflage-clad men carrying babies, one wrapped in a blanket and one without a shirt. Dzugayev called the release "the first success" and expressed hope for further progress in talks with the captors.

Regional parliamentary spokeswoman Fatima Kabalova said that several elderly women and a group of children were released, but gave no numbers and did not indicate whether she was referring to the infants released. She said the releases were not announced publicly to avoid a crush from media and anxious relatives.

Earlier two large explosions were heard. They were reportedly outside the schhol and one was claimed to have happened after the fighters fired on special forces outside.