Official Silence on Gas Raises Vexing Questions

Some of Russia's top health officials said tonight that the gas was a nonlethal anesthetic, like the ones used in general surgery. But in the chaos of a predawn commando operation against heavily armed guerrillas, the result was all too lethal. Of the 117 hostages confirmed dead so far, all but one appear to have died from the effects of the gas, according to the Health Committee of Moscow.

What unfolded in the theater appears to have amounted to a risky test of a previously undisclosed chemical agent that ended with disastrously unintended consequences.

Andrei P. Seltovsky, the chairman of the health committee, said tonight that he did not even know the name of the gas, parrying questions toward what he called the "competent authorities," strongly suggesting that the gas was developed by the military or security forces as part of some secret program.

The light gray gas filtered down like a mist in the theater hall before sunrise on Saturday, and the effect on hostages and hostage-takers alike was nearly instant. Most simply lost consciousness, as their breath and blood slowed and Russian security troops began to surge through the theater.


http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/28/international/europe/28GAS.html