Beslan/Moscow  - Survivors in the northern Caucasus city of Beslan were Tuesday commemorating the day five years ago in which more than 330 people, including 186 children, were killed in a hostage-taking drama carried out by separatist Chechen militants.

Amid the ceremonies, relatives of the victims and survivors are expected to repeat their demands for an international probe into the attack and the possible involvement of Russian secret services.

In incident on September 1, 2004 more than 30 terrorists from the Russian republics Chechnya and Ingushetia seized the school and held more 1,128 children, parents and teachers hostage for three days.

The drama ended in a bloodbath when Russian soldiers stormed the building on September 3. In total, 332 people died in the ensuing firefight between soldiers and terrorists.

Russia has rejected allegations that it shares responsibility for the death toll by neglecting the safety of the hostages when its security forces overpowered the kidnappers.

The hostage drama and pictures of hundreds of injured and killed children shocked the international community because it was the first time terrorists had seized hundreds of children as kidnap victims. (dpa)