00:00In Moscow in autumn 2002, terrorists took a thousand people hostage and threatened to kill them.
00:10The Russians' problem was how to get them out alive.
00:15A traditional type of assault under this circumstance was highly unlikely to be successful.
00:21The Russians needed another option, and fortunately they had one.
00:27When special forces stormed the building, they used a secret weapon never tried before.
00:35A mysterious knockout gas put over a thousand people to sleep.
00:41A hundred and seventy never woke up.
00:44The Russian authorities claimed the gas was not lethal, but they refused to say what it was.
00:54So why did so many people die?
00:57And what was the mystery gas?
01:00Horizon investigates the tragedy of the Moscow theater siege.
01:24On October the 23rd, 2002, on the outskirts of Moscow, a thousand people were enjoying a night out at the
01:32theater.
01:32On October the 23rd, 2002, on the outskirts of Moscow, a thousand people were enjoying a night out at the
01:32theater.
01:35Nord Ost was a romantic musical set during the Second World War.
01:45In the stalls were Svetlana Gubarjova, her 13-year-old daughter Alexandra, and her American fiancée Sandy.
01:57The family were there to celebrate.
02:00They had just been given permission to emigrate to America.
02:05Everything was working out very well, and we were in high spirits.
02:10We set off for a stroll around town, then lunch, and when we got back to the metro station, we
02:15bought the theater tickets.
02:16We wanted to carry on the celebrations.
02:19Just after the interval, the plot took an unexpected twist.
02:24It was caught on the theater's video.
02:29A shot rang out.
02:32Masked figures spread through the theater.
02:39My first thought was how well the director had worked such a clever stunt into the play.
02:44I couldn't believe it was true for a long time.
02:50But it wasn't part of the play.
02:55Forty heavily armed men and women had taken over the theater.
03:04The women had explosives strapped to their bodies.
03:10They had also brought two massive bombs, which they forced their hostages to help them place among the seats.
03:24The bomb was very heavy, very heavy indeed.
03:27And when we put it in the middle of the balcony, right by the parapet,
03:32two men and a woman began arming it, very slowly and very carefully.
03:41The terrorists were from Chechnya, a Russian province fighting for independence.
03:50The group's leader, Mavsar Barayev, had a terrifying announcement.
04:03Unless Russia withdrew its troops from Chechnya, they would start to kill the hostages.
04:11They themselves were not afraid to die.
04:18They threatened to shoot anyone who got up from their seat.
04:21And if government didn't give in to their demands,
04:24then they promised to blow up the whole building.
04:31One of those now under Barayev's control
04:34was child actress Kristina Kirbatova.
04:39Her parents were on their way to collect her
04:41when they heard the news.
05:07It was the start of a week which would shock Russia profoundly.
05:14In the days that followed,
05:15the families of a thousand hostages watched in horror.
05:19And the rest of the world was transfixed
05:21as crisis turned to tragedy.
05:31Outside, the Russian army quickly surrounded the theater and a standoff began.
05:37President Putin and his security advisers
05:40regarded this as an extremely desperate situation,
05:45the worst hostage situation they had ever faced
05:48and indeed the worst that has been faced by any democratic country.
05:58The conflict in Chechnya had been notoriously brutal.
06:03There was barbarity on both sides.
06:10Now, the Chechens had brought the fight to the heart of Russia,
06:16just miles from the Kremlin itself.
06:20Compromise seemed highly unlikely.
06:27So the Russians had to work out how to free the hostages
06:31without the Chechens blowing up the theater.
06:44The scale of the challenge faced by Russian military planners
06:47is well known to Robin Horsfall.
06:53He was in the SAS team,
06:55which stormed the Iranian embassy in London in 1980.
07:00The traditional approach is to mount an assault
07:03through multiple entry points simultaneously,
07:06using speed, aggression and surprise.
07:13The problem with this is they couldn't get the surprise factor into it.
07:20The Russian troops would have to fight their way
07:22along 100 feet of corridors before they could reach the hall.
07:31They would also have to attack up a well-defended staircase.
07:36So you're not going to get a quick and successful entry.
07:44The whole operation would take precious minutes
07:46and give the Chechens ample time to set off their explosives.
07:52The largest explosive device was based in the center of the auditorium,
07:56right in the center of all the hostages.
07:59If this explosive device had gone off,
08:02the whole of the ceiling would have come down onto the hostages inside
08:05and could have caused in excess of 80% casualties
08:08and it would have become a complete and catastrophic disaster.
08:14A traditional assault was highly unlikely to succeed.
08:20The Russians would have to come up with something new.
08:28Inside the theater, it soon became clear
08:31how ruthless the Chechens could be.
08:34At 3.30 a.m., six hours into the siege,
08:38a young woman wandered into the hall from the street.
08:43She started shouting at the terrorists.
08:51They pushed her through the side doors.
08:57And there were two short bursts of gunfire.
09:03And then there was dead silence.
09:06At that moment, we realized this was no joke.
09:11The Chechens had proved they were ready to kill.
09:16The Russian position was desperate.
09:19So they decided to do something never tried before.
09:24They would use a secret weapon.
09:27Gas.
09:42For half a century, hostage rescue teams around the world
09:46have searched for a gas that would knock people out
09:49without killing.
09:51It could save thousands of lives.
09:55If you look at the frequency at which hostages are taken
10:00on a worldwide basis,
10:03you can understand that the goal is immeasurable.
10:07It's a priceless commodity
10:08if you could actually have something that would do this.
10:12Over the years, many drugs have been investigated.
10:15But nobody had found one that worked.
10:18The problem was how to put the terrorists to sleep
10:22without killing any hostages.
10:27For the West, the perfect knockout gas remained elusive.
10:33But it seems the Russians thought they had found the answer.
10:40By the small hours of Saturday morning,
10:43three days into the siege,
10:46they were ready to put it to the test.
10:55At 5.30am, while most of the hostages slept,
11:00the operation began.
11:22The last thing I remember before I passed out
11:25was two Chechens on the stage shouting something up to the balcony.
11:30Then they ran out of the hall.
11:34The men ran to the outer corridors,
11:37where they broke windows
11:38and started to fire wildly out at the Russians.
11:46But the Chechens women,
11:47who could blow up the theater at any moment,
11:50were still in the hall with the hostages.
11:56So the Russians did not attack.
11:59They waited for the gas to work.
12:09There was sort of a dulling of the senses,
12:12weakness, indifference.
12:15I couldn't smell anything,
12:17and my hearing was very faint.
12:19Everything was sort of cut off.
12:21I really wanted to go to sleep.
12:2820 minutes passed.
12:31Still, they waited.
12:41Then, a hostage walked out,
12:44apparently unaffected.
12:48It was proof the gas had not yet knocked everybody out.
12:58So the Russians kept waiting.
13:11Finally, at 6.25,
13:14a whole hour after the gas was first pumped in,
13:18the special forces attacked.
13:30When they got to the auditorium,
13:32they shot the unconscious Chechen women,
13:35point blank.
13:38They couldn't risk them waking
13:39and detonating the bombs.
13:42I could hear shooting,
13:44and there was shouting in Chechen and Russian.
13:49Then, in a storeroom upstairs,
13:51they caught up with the Chechen leader,
13:54Mavsar Barayev.
14:01Not a single soldier had been injured.
14:05No hostages had been caught in the crossfire.
14:11In a building nearby,
14:12anxious relatives were told the good news.
14:18They came and told us it had been successful,
14:20and all the children were alive.
14:23They definitely told us that.
14:26We were so happy,
14:28kissing and hugging each other,
14:29jumping and shouting for joy.
14:35It looked as if the operation
14:37and its use of the mysterious gas
14:39had been a stunning success.
14:45Later that morning,
14:47hundreds of relatives thronged the hospitals,
14:49anxious to find their loved ones.
14:53Among them were Vladimir and Natasha Kirbatov.
14:57They had been told a girl
14:59matching their daughter's description
15:00was at hospital number 13.
15:04When we described her again,
15:07what she was wearing and so on,
15:09they calmly said,
15:10yes, we have a girl like that here,
15:13but she is in the morgue.
15:23She was underneath a blanket,
15:25and we could only see her trainers.
15:29We identified her,
15:31signed the form,
15:33and that was it.
15:40Svetlana Gubadyova woke up in hospital
15:43not knowing where her family was.
15:52I was sitting on my bed
15:54and heard them listing names on the radio.
15:58I heard my own name
16:00and started listening more carefully.
16:03Then I heard the phrase,
16:04sadly, there have been fatalities
16:06among the hostages.
16:11Yesterday,
16:12Aleksandra Gubadyova died in hospital.
16:20Not only had Svetlana lost her daughter,
16:23her American fiancée, Sandy,
16:25had also died.
16:35As the day wore on,
16:37the death toll rose relentlessly.
16:40Russia's stunning victory
16:42had turned to tragedy.
16:52For grief-stricken relatives,
16:54it was incomprehensible.
17:00129 hostages had died.
17:04Their loved ones demanded
17:06to know why.
17:19Despite the death toll,
17:21the authorities claimed the operation
17:23had been a great success.
17:26And they had a surprising explanation
17:29for the tragedy.
17:36They said it had nothing to do
17:39with the mysterious gas.
17:44Officials claimed the 129 hostages died
17:47because they already had
17:50life-threatening diseases.
17:58In most cases,
18:00there were serious illnesses
18:01like bronchial asthma
18:03or heart disease.
18:05In a number of cases,
18:07there were heart attacks
18:08caused by circulatory disease.
18:10Combined with exhaustion
18:12and stress over three days,
18:14this in itself
18:15could have very serious consequences.
18:22But nobody believed it.
18:28Least of all those
18:29like Vladimir and Natasha
18:31who had lost
18:32lively young children.
18:38The outrage of the victims' families
18:40was matched by news reports
18:43around the world.
18:47Some claimed nerve gas
18:48had been used.
18:50That would have broken
18:51international law.
18:54Four days after the theater
18:55was stormed,
18:56the authorities tried
18:58to put a stop
18:58to the speculation.
19:00To neutralize the terrorists,
19:04we used a substance
19:04based on derivatives
19:06of fentanyl.
19:09Such substances
19:10are medical drugs
19:12which can produce
19:13a very quick
19:14anesthetic effect.
19:16They are widely used
19:18in medicine
19:18and on their own
19:20are not lethal.
19:27Fentanyl.
19:28Far from being
19:29a nerve gas
19:30or even a weapon,
19:32it's a common
19:32painkiller.
19:33A man-made opioid
19:35like morphine,
19:37only stronger.
19:45Anesthetists
19:46like Bernard Riley
19:47use fentanyl
19:48every day.
19:53A small dose
19:54of fentanyl
19:55gives pain relief.
19:57What I'm going
19:57to do now
19:58is give you
19:58this powerful
19:59painkiller
20:00that's going in.
20:01A larger dose
20:02will make you
20:03unconscious.
20:05You might feel
20:06as if you've had
20:07a couple of pints
20:07of cider by now
20:08as that stuff
20:09circulated around
20:10your body.
20:11You all right?
20:13But there is
20:14one drawback.
20:16Fentanyl
20:16can stop you
20:17breathing.
20:21because of the
20:22effects of the
20:22fentanyl
20:23you can see
20:24he's not
20:24breathing at all.
20:26So until he
20:27starts to breathe
20:28spontaneously
20:29on his own
20:30I just have to
20:32keep on squeezing
20:33the bag.
20:42Although fentanyl
20:43can stop you
20:44breathing
20:44there is an
20:45antidote
20:46called naloxone
20:47which reverses
20:48the effects.
20:50Because of this
20:51it might have
20:51seemed sensible
20:52for the Russians
20:53to try fentanyl.
20:56The idea
20:57that fentanyl
20:58might have been
20:58used
20:59was supported
21:00by events
21:00on the day
21:01of the assault.
21:06As these
21:07pictures show
21:08the special
21:09forces brought
21:10supplies of
21:11naloxone
21:12and it
21:13seemed to
21:14work.
21:16So why did
21:17so many people
21:18die?
21:24One possible
21:25answer may
21:26lie in the
21:27rescue operation
21:28itself.
21:31Once the troops
21:32had secured
21:33the theater
21:34doctors from
21:35the Moscow
21:35Rescue Service
21:36rushed to help
21:37them.
21:39But nobody
21:40had told them
21:41in advance
21:41about the gas.
21:48Nobody warned
21:49us that they
21:50had used
21:50special gas.
21:53The only thing
21:55we heard
21:55was on the
21:56government
21:56trade
21:56of China.
21:58We were just
21:59told that we
22:00should take
22:01our medical
22:01kits to give
22:02first aid
22:03to the
22:03victims.
22:09Because
22:09they hadn't
22:10been warned
22:11the rescue
22:12workers hadn't
22:13brought enough
22:13naloxone.
22:16Neither
22:16had the
22:17special forces.
22:22just 17
22:23doctors were
22:24confronted by
22:24a thousand
22:25unconscious
22:26casualties.
22:28They were
22:28forced to call
22:29in troops to
22:30help evacuate
22:30them.
22:32The soldiers,
22:33inexperienced in
22:34first aid,
22:35dragged people
22:36out and laid
22:37them on their
22:37backs, where
22:39they could
22:39easily choke.
22:45Within
22:45minutes, the
22:47medics were
22:47completely
22:48overwhelmed.
22:53People were
22:54just dumped
22:54in a heap.
22:55It was
22:55impossible to
22:56tell who'd
22:57had injections
22:57and who
22:58hadn't.
22:59Some may
22:59have had
23:00two, others
23:00none at
23:01all.
23:08So was
23:09the botched
23:10medical response
23:11the cause of
23:11the disaster.
23:14It appeared
23:14to explain
23:15everything and
23:17it seemed
23:17to let
23:17fentanyl
23:18off the
23:18hook.
23:20But there
23:21was just
23:21one problem.
23:25Scientists
23:26around the
23:26world were
23:27beginning to
23:27doubt if
23:28the Russians
23:28had used
23:29fentanyl at
23:30all.
23:40It was all a
23:41question of
23:42quantity.
23:43The volume
23:44of the
23:45hall was
23:4613,500
23:47cubic metres and
23:50there were
23:50over a
23:50thousand people
23:51inside.
23:54To knock
23:55everybody out
23:56would take a
23:57huge amount
23:58of fentanyl.
24:06In
24:06California,
24:08one scientist
24:09had worked
24:09out just how
24:10much.
24:12If we want to
24:13figure out how
24:13much fentanyl it
24:14would have taken
24:14in Moscow, we
24:15have to make some
24:16assumptions.
24:17First, we have to
24:17estimate the
24:18dosage needed per
24:19kilogram of body
24:20weight in the
24:21aerosol form.
24:25and we have to
24:25know how much
24:26an average person
24:27in the theater
24:28weighed.
24:32And we have to
24:33know what their
24:34respiratory rate was,
24:35how much air they
24:37were breathing in
24:37at a given time.
24:39And finally, we
24:40have to know the
24:40total volume of
24:41the airspace in the
24:42theater.
24:46If we put all
24:47that together, do
24:48the math, we
24:49come out with a
24:49number, we can
24:51estimate that it
24:52would take 19
24:53and a half kilograms
24:54of fentanyl, nearly
24:5550 pounds of
24:56fentanyl, way too
24:57much to be
24:58practical to get
24:59into the air
24:59volume of the
25:00theater in the
25:00small amount of
25:01time that was
25:01available.
25:02I don't think
25:03fentanyl could
25:03have been the
25:04agent used.
25:10Mark Wheelis'
25:11view is supported
25:12by evidence from
25:12the theater.
25:15Most of the
25:15hostages say they
25:16were knocked out
25:17within minutes of
25:18the gas first
25:19appearing.
25:21to pump in 50
25:23pounds of
25:23fentanyl would
25:25have taken much
25:25longer.
25:30This suggests the
25:31Russians used a
25:32drug far stronger
25:34than fentanyl.
25:36But what?
25:42Because fentanyl is
25:44man-made, it can
25:46easily be manipulated
25:47by scientists.
25:49They've developed
25:50dozens of so-called
25:51derivatives, or
25:52variations of the
25:53drug, some even
25:55stronger than the
25:56original.
25:57So perhaps the
25:58Russians had used
25:59one of these.
26:07studies.
26:09In Salt Lake City, that's
26:11the view of one
26:12scientist who ought
26:13to know.
26:18Ted Stanley is a
26:19renowned
26:20anesthesiologist.
26:24He has also done
26:25work to develop
26:26a knockout gas.
26:34The work was
26:35commissioned by the
26:36FBI.
26:41The U.S.
26:43government agencies
26:45came and asked us
26:47if we would study
26:49some of these
26:52drugs in animals
26:54as a precursor to
26:56possibly using
26:57these compounds
26:59to immobilize
27:00human beings.
27:04In the mid-1990s,
27:07Professor Stanley
27:08conducted a series
27:09of experiments
27:10using the most
27:11powerful derivatives
27:12of fentanyl.
27:15One was
27:16sufentanyl.
27:23Sufentanyl is
27:24basically the
27:25fentanyl molecule
27:26with an extra
27:27element, sulfur.
27:30This makes it
27:31ten times stronger.
27:34But Dr. Stanley
27:35argues that even
27:37this was probably
27:38not strong enough
27:39for what the
27:40Russians needed
27:41to do.
27:42There is another
27:43derivative which
27:44is even stronger.
27:47It's made by
27:48taking the basic
27:49fentanyl molecule
27:50and adding carbon
27:53to create
27:55carfentanil.
27:57Carfentanil is
27:58ten times stronger
27:59than sufentanil,
28:01a hundred times
28:02stronger than
28:02fentanyl,
28:03and ten thousand
28:04times stronger
28:05than morphine.
28:08The Russians
28:09would have needed
28:09just 650 grams
28:11of carfentanil
28:13to knock out
28:14everybody in the
28:15Moscow theater.
28:18That's just half
28:19the amount of
28:20sufentanil they
28:21would have needed
28:22and a thirtieth
28:24of the fentanyl.
28:27That's why
28:27Professor Stanley
28:28believes carfentanil
28:29is the most likely
28:30candidate for the
28:32mystery gas.
28:42But there's just one
28:43problem with carfentanil.
28:47It's not meant to be
28:48used on humans.
28:55Carfentanil is so
28:56strong it will knock
28:57out the world's most
28:58powerful animals.
29:02This bison is being
29:03tranquilized so the
29:04vets can treat it
29:05for parasites.
29:10It weighs almost a ton
29:12and will be completely
29:14sedated by just four and
29:15a half milligrams.
29:19If a human received the
29:21dosage that we prepared
29:23for the bison, that
29:25person would show all
29:26the classical signs of a
29:27narcotic or an opioid
29:28overdose.
29:29That is, there would be
29:30behavioral changes, the
29:31person would be dizzy,
29:32he or she may vomit,
29:34they would pass out, and
29:36as they got deeper and
29:37deeper into anesthesia,
29:38if you will, respiration
29:40would probably stop.
29:41They would stop
29:42breathing.
29:42And if at that point
29:43there wasn't medical
29:44intervention, the person
29:46probably would die from
29:46this drug.
29:55Used correctly,
29:57carfentanil is perfectly
29:58safe.
30:00But in the Moscow
30:02theater, anything this
30:03powerful would have been
30:05extremely risky.
30:12carfentanil is so potent
30:13that a safe dose for each
30:15person would need to be
30:16infinitesimal.
30:19Getting it right would be
30:21critical.
30:24The danger of using a very
30:26potent substance like
30:27carfentanil is because the
30:30dosage to achieve the effect
30:32you want is so small that a
30:34small mistake, a small
30:35margin of error becomes
30:37extremely dangerous.
30:43What would make it even
30:44more dangerous is that some
30:46people would need far less of
30:48the drug to knock them out
30:49than others.
30:52It depends on factors like
30:54age and weight.
30:56And the strong, fit Chechens
30:58were likely to be among the
31:00most resistant.
31:05You have to use a dose of
31:07anesthetic that is sufficient
31:08to, with confidence, knock out
31:11the young, healthy hostage
31:13takers.
31:15That's going to drive you to
31:16use a dose that is potentially
31:19quite dangerous to at least
31:20some of the people in this
31:22room.
31:23More dangerous still, some of
31:26the suicide bombers were in the
31:28middle of the hall, as far away
31:31as it was possible to be from
31:33the air conditioning vents.
31:36Again, the Russians would have
31:38had to increase the dose to
31:40compensate.
31:42If you're going to give a very
31:44potent substance like carfentanil
31:46as an aerosol spray, then the
31:49people who are closest to the
31:51point of entry of the spray are
31:53very likely to get an overdose.
31:55It's as simple as that.
31:59Could the Russians really have
32:00taken such a gamble with
32:01hostages' lives?
32:05Because they have consistently
32:06refused to say precisely what
32:08was in the gas, it seemed
32:11impossible to tell.
32:20But in Munich, there was a man
32:21who thought he could find out.
32:27Professor Thomas Zilke treated
32:29two survivors who were flown to
32:31Germany the day after the siege
32:33was broken.
32:36He took blood and urine samples
32:39to try to discover what the
32:41Russians had used.
32:44I think that is very, very
32:46important.
32:47We always want to know what was
32:48the poison in every patient.
32:51So we are very interested to find
32:52out what sort of opioid it was.
32:58Professor Zilke brought one of
32:59his samples to Britain.
33:04He came to a company called HFL,
33:06which specializes in detecting
33:08these kinds of drugs.
33:14Dr. Steve Pleasance carried out
33:16the tests using some of the most
33:18sensitive equipment available.
33:21We're talking in parts per
33:23trillion in terms of drugs in
33:27biological fluids.
33:34The machine detects drugs by
33:36separating out the different
33:37molecules in the sample and
33:39measuring their molecular weight.
33:45In this case, the plan was to
33:47compare any substance detected
33:49with control samples of
33:51fentanyl, sufentanyl, and
33:53carfentanyl.
33:56The scientists were confident
33:58that if any of these drugs was
34:00used in Moscow, they would find it.
34:07But after exhaustive testing, they
34:11found nothing.
34:16The top trace is from the control
34:20sample of human urine that we have
34:23purposely spiked with fentanyl,
34:26sufentanyl, and carfentanyl.
34:28The bottom trace, this is the sample
34:32from the patient.
34:34By comparing the two, we don't see
34:37any peaks at all.
34:38So therefore, we deduce that there
34:40are none of these fentanyl
34:42derivatives within the urine sample.
34:43Yes, they definitely were not there.
34:47It was an extremely surprising result.
34:51The Russians hadn't used fentanyl.
34:55They hadn't used sufentanyl.
34:59They hadn't even used the most likely
35:02derivative, carfentanyl.
35:05So what was the Moscow gas?
35:09It was back to square one.
35:17There were a few definite clues.
35:21First, the symptoms.
35:24Unconsciousness, vomiting, and pinpoint
35:27pupils are classic signs of opioid
35:30poisoning.
35:33And hostages recovered when they
35:36received naloxone, the opioid
35:38antidote.
35:43Then there were the words of the
35:44health minister.
35:45He admitted they had used an opioid,
35:48a derivative of fentanyl.
35:52And whatever the gas was, it must
35:56have been extremely potent, because
35:58they had to knock out an entire
36:00theatre.
36:03But tests showed they had not used
36:05the most likely fentanyl
36:07derivatives.
36:09There was only one possible
36:11explanation.
36:14It seems to be different from fentanyl,
36:17carfentanyl, and sufentanyl.
36:19But it has to be, it has to have the
36:21potency of carfentanyl at least,
36:23because otherwise it wouldn't work in
36:26these circumstances.
36:27So, the Russians obviously have designed a new
36:32fentanyl, which we cannot detect in the West.
36:39All that experts could say for certain was that
36:42to knock out so many people so quickly, Russia's secret gas had to be as strong as carfentanyl.
36:55But anything that potent should have been extremely deadly.
37:01129 hostages had died, but over 860 had survived.
37:07Had it been carfentanyl, it could have been far worse.
37:12So, had the Russians managed to create a drug just as strong as carfentanyl, but much less lethal?
37:21The fact that the Russians did it and got away with a lethality of less than 20% suggests to
37:30me that very likely there may have been a novel agent with a higher safety margin than known fentanyl's.
37:37The theory now must be that the Russians had developed a gas which could knock people out, but with much
37:45less chance of stopping them breathing.
37:48It hardly seemed possible.
37:51But a scientific breakthrough in Germany has just shown how they might have done it.
37:57In Göttingen, one man may finally have solved the riddle of how to deal with the side effects of fentanyl.
38:05Professor Diethelm Richter and his team were not trying to create the perfect knockout gas, but to make severe pain
38:14relief much safer.
38:19Fentanyl causes pain relief and ultimately unconsciousness by depressing certain parts of the brain.
38:29This includes the part which tells the body to breathe.
38:35The challenge was to find a way to block this potentially fatal side effect.
38:44We were looking for a drug to compensate for the depressive effect of fentanyl
38:50and hopefully not change the activity of the pain system.
38:56So, let the pain system be depressed, but just bring breathing activity back.
39:05Professor Richter began to investigate the effects of an experimental stimulant called BMU-8.
39:17He conducted tests on rats linked to a computer monitor.
39:27First, they dosed the rats with fentanyl, which caused their breathing response to slow.
39:44Eventually, the breathing stopped altogether.
39:50Then they added the BMU-8.
39:57The effects were striking.
40:02There is respiratory activity coming back.
40:07It's increasing the amplitude.
40:10And now the activity is getting stronger and stronger.
40:14It's getting back almost to normal levels.
40:17I would say that is a very robust breathing activity you see here.
40:23That's stable.
40:30This breakthrough could explain everything.
40:36Adding BMU-8 to fentanyl derivatives may create a powerful knockout gas which doesn't stop you breathing.
40:46Perhaps Professor Richter, in his search for safer pain relief, had accidentally stumbled on what the Russians had done in
40:54Moscow.
40:59You would have a mixture of drugs which can be used as a knockout weapon which might be safer than
41:09using fentanyl alone because you have treated the severe side effect of blockade of breathing.
41:22Nobody can be sure, but perhaps the Russians had beaten Professor Richter to his discovery.
41:31Maybe they were right when they claimed that gas was not inherently deadly.
41:37But if so, why did 129 people die?
41:49It may all go back to the moment the Russians pumped in their gas.
41:59At that point, they may really have thought it would not kill.
42:07But even though the gas itself may not have stopped the hostages breathing, there was something else that would.
42:18As soon as they fell unconscious, their heads would slump.
42:28Some of them would have lulled their head one way or another, or even backwards over the back of the
42:34chair.
42:35And all of those things would tend them to lose control of their airway because they're unconscious,
42:41but probably to fall in a position where their breathing would be obstructed.
42:48Any hostage whose airway stayed blocked for more than three minutes would be in a critical condition.
42:55And yet the Russian troops didn't move for a whole hour.
43:06You would be at risk of simply choking to death.
43:10The level of oxygen in your blood would drop.
43:12And that would cause brain damage eventually, and before that, probably cardiac arrest.
43:23Even once the Russians got into the hall, there were a thousand hostages needing attention in minutes.
43:30But the evacuation inevitably took another hour.
43:34The physical difficulty of getting from the aisle to the centre of a row, time.
43:43The physical positioning of the patient, difficult.
43:48Getting the patient out into the aisle and out into the open air, difficult.
43:56Many must have died in the hall itself, long before any help could possibly have reached them.
44:03No medical response, however good, could have saved them.
44:10Even if this had happened in the Albert Hall, with excellent medical backup,
44:17I still think that there would have been a large number of deaths.
44:26The Russians may well have found the holy grail of hostage rescue.
44:33A knockout gas, which doesn't stop you breathing.
44:38But it killed anyway.
44:51This is the tragedy of the Moscow siege.
44:54The military operation worked.
44:57The gas may have been safer than anything known in the West.
45:01But 129 people still died.
45:06And nothing could have saved them.
45:19And that's it from UKTV documentary for tonight.
45:22However, switch over to UKTV Gold for a bit of swashbuckling from Sharp.
45:26And we'll be back tomorrow from 9am.
45:29Until then, you have a great night.
45:30To the muerte.
45:45To the streets.
45:48Do you believe you're sick to find the pollution in repair different ladies?
