TOXICOLOGY:
Questions Swirl Over Knockout Gas Used in Hostage Crisis
Martin Enserink and Richard Stone
CAMBRIDGE, U.K., AND WASHINGTON, D.C.--Scientists are still speculating about the exact nature of the gas that subdued the Chechen terrorists but also killed 118 hostages in a Moscow theater on 26 October. Experts are doubtful about the official Russian explanation, which is that the gas was a derivative of fentanyl, an opiate. Hopes for a clearer picture are now riding on toxicological analyses on Western hostages.