A shocking account of the siege has come from Indira Dzetskelova, the mother of 12-year-old Dzerase who was guarded by two women suicide bombers during the siege. She said: "On the first day they shot a man before my daughter's eyes. They frightened the kids by saying that water in the tap was poisoned.
"The famished children had to eat rose petals from bouquets which they specially bought for their teachers to mark the first day of term. Parents who were also captured had to feed their kids with all the window plants.
"After they ate all the petals, my daughter said that she started to nibble the rose plants.
"She told me that several 15-year-old girls were raped by terrorists. She heard their terrible cries and screams when those monsters took them away."
Her traumatised daughter Dzerase sobbed as she added: "When the assault started, some of us were running out through the school dining room.
"We had to run across and jump over dead bodies. Can I ever forget it? Is it possible that one day I will forget it?
"The terrorists started to shoot from the roof, then one of them ran into the dining room and started to shoot from the window.
"I saw kids and women falling to the ground. And I saw that vermin's face. I saw his smile as he killed my friends."
Diana Gadzhieva, 14, was held with her sister Akinba, aged 11. She told how the rebels executed all the adult men in a room upstairs and how she was forced to lie face down on the gym floor.
She said: "There was not enough space for us and we were lying on top of each other. The rebels needed paths to walk around the gym. They shouted they would shoot anyone whose arm or leg was across their paths.
"They also said they would kill anyone who looked up.
"We saw groups of men hostages going out and never coming back."
She also told of the moments when the bloody firefight started and how the rebels triggered a series of explosions inside the gym.
Diana said: "There was terrible panic and a few boys jumped out of the windows. My sister and I did not want to run out - we were scared of being shot.
"But then the second explosion happened and something heavy fell down on us. I saw children around me lying in blood and not moving.
"Just next to me there was a woman covered in blood. She was dead. I also saw many arms and legs, torn from bodies.
"All the bombs were connected with cords and started blowing up one after another, getting closer and closer to us.
"I took Alina's hand and we ran to the window and jumped out. We were running as quickly as possible - our backs were terribly hot from the fires."
Zalina Vazagova, 13, also told of the terrifying moment when a bomb exploded in the gym ceiling.
She explained: "I heard a terrible crack above my head and closed my eyes. When I opened them, I thought I was dead. There was so much blood around me.
"One granny was lying with a hole in her head. My PE teacher, Ivan Konstantinovich's body hit my leg.
"All the kids were crying, 'Please don't shoot! Please don't kill us'. But the rebels did not listen to us.
"Then I saw an open window and just jumped out. My little sister Lena was left inside there." And sobbing, she added: "I don't know if she's alive. She was only ten."
Survivors say the gymnasium and surrounding corridors had been rigged with at least 18 bombs, connected by cables and trip wires.
