Had I not been there back then, he wouldn’t have survived
Download image
Světlana Bigajeva, née Chudijeva, was born in 1963 in Farna. Her mother tongue is Ossetian and even though her family is Christian Orthodox, as a child she used to make friends with the local Muslim children. She studied at an economics university and following graduation in 1988 she got married and moved to Beslan. She gave birth to three children: Suslanbek (1988), Georgij (1990) and Azamat (1992). At the day of the attack she got her sons ready for school and then followed them there. The terrorists rushed all the people including her to the gym, only her middle son managed to escape. During the first day everyone in the gym hoped for a swift release but then the terrorists publicly killed the man who tried to calm the others down. After the release of a group of the smallest children, the terrorists became even more brutal. The explosion that took place on the third day threw Světlana up in the air and caused her an abdominal wound. When she regained consciousness she saw the terrorists killing survivors. After a while they rushed all those who survived to the canteen. Meanwhile, many people fell victim to the gunfire coming from outside. She and her older son were rescued from the canteen by special police units. Světlana Bigajeva recalls the moments spent in the hospital when people in panic sought for their loved ones. The personnel were writing the names of the ones transported there down on a board. Světlana was lucky enough to find her younger son who was thrown out of the building by the explosion. Those who couldn’t find their loved ones in the hospital then went to the morgue. Světlana Bigajeva and both her sons survived the siege of the Beslan school.
