Nine children traumatized in Russia's Beslan hostage crisis more than three years ago have arrived in China's southernmost coastal city of Sanya for convalescent treatment.
The children, aged from 12 to 16, were injured in the siege of their school in September 2004 and scarred physically and mentally, said Liu Dexi, president of the Traditional Chinese Hospital of Sanya.
It is the second group of Beslan siege victim to have such treatment in Liu's hospital, which also helped to treat 10 children in May 2006 under an agreement between Sino-Russian health departments. The Chinese government will cover all the cost of the treatment.
The children had a physical examination after arriving at the hospital on Tuesday with an interpreter, a nurse and one child's mother from Russia.
"More than three years on, the children still suffer from fears and anxiety left by the nightmare experience and most of them can't sleep well," said Liu.
The recuperative treatment for the five boys and four girls would involve both Western and traditional Chinese therapies along with entertainment activities, which had proved to be effective for the Russian children last time, he said.
The children are scheduled to return to Russia on March 29.
On Sept. 1, 2004, a group of armed militants took more than 1,000 people hostage in a school in Beslan in the Russia's Republic of North Ossetia. The crisis ended on the third day after a fierce exchange of gunfire, leaving 331 people dead, including 172 children.
Source: Xinhua
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