A Russian court has begun hearing lawsuits brought by victims of last October's siege at a Moscow theatre, which ended with the deaths of more than 100 people.
Dozens of people who were either taken hostage or lost relatives are seeking more than €45m in damages from the Russian government. Proceedings began today at a Moscow District Court.
The head lawyer for the plaintiffs, Igor Trunov, said that the case was likely to be moved to a higher court as new evidence was required.
800 theatregoers were held hostage by Chechen separatists during the three-day crisis. Most of the victims were killed by a powerful gas that was pumped into the theatre to subdue the hostage-takers.
