School started in Russia and children from primary to high school age are hostages in their school in Beslan, Russia.
Reports vary from 200 to 400 being held.
Reports say about 50 children managed to flee.
In 2002 Russian theatre goers were held hostage. 129 died.
Here is a timeline of the conflict.
And if you scroll to the bottom of The Lesser Unpleasantries of the 20th Century there are statistics listed under Russia. It is difficult to know how accurate the numbers are.