A distressing story from Mosnews:
A new school being built in Beslan to replace the building destroyed during last year September siege that took lives of 331 people has been robbed, Itar-Tass reported on Monday.
Robbers took all the new office equipment at least $30,000 worth. An investigation into the case was started immediately and one youngster has been already put on the wanted list.
[...] The agency points out that the two Beslan new schools to be taken into use on Aug. 15, have been guarded around the clock since the very first day of the construction, and thus, it is unclear how the robbers could get into the building.
Update 9 August: Several other news reports about the robbery are also circulating, including this BBC News report, which puts the value of the stolen goods at $6,200. I must confess, I had wondered why the new school would have $30,000 of new office equipment, and I’m much more inclined to believe the second, lower figure.
Still, whatever the value, it’s still shocking. I’d heard of con-men stealing donations meant for the victims, but I’d never imagined that anyone would have the courage to rob the new school itself.
The robbery also raises serious security concerns. As the Mosnews reports, the school was guarded around the clock. If theives can get into a guarded school and waltz out with thousands of dollars worth of office equipment, what is to stop terrorists breaking into a guarded (or even an unguarded) school and kidnapping more schoolchildren?
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