Al >The gas used by the Russians appears to be some sort of gasified curare
Yes, indeed. My problem is that, after having spent a lifetime (or nearly a lifetime) in the anesthesia business, I have never heard of such a drug. It is clearly a VERY well kept secret.
I can tell you to die from an injection of the usual kind of curare is absolutely the most awful experience. I know because, in the early days, people I knew allowed experiments to be performed on themselves to learn about the drugs and they told me of the absolute terror they experienced when they felt the assistant would forget to breathe for them, using artificial ventilation apparatus, of course. Imagine not being able to move one single muscle in your body but to be completely conscious.
If true, one wonders if such a "nerve gas" doesn't fall under the generic term "Chemical Weapon" and is therefore banned by various treaties.
Furthermore, I found it horrifying that the Russians were more concerned to keep the agent a secret than to mention to the doctors what a possible antidote could be. As you know, all 120+ hostages, except one, died from this substance being sprayed into the ventilation system of the theatre. In fact, one doesn't know, even now, exactly how many died. One certainly can't believe anything the Russians say. Also clear that the hostage-takers were all (except one, I believe) assassinated in cold-blood while they were under the influence of the drug.
Another thing I found strange was, in the videos of the Russian soldiers entering the building, they weren't wearing gas masks. Does this mean that they had received a possible antidote before the attack? Most peculiar.
As an aside, I found it amusing (if it's possible to find amusement in such a horror story) to think of anesthetic-type drugs being used in a theatre other than an operating theatre! |
