Russian special forces faced an impossible task: liberating the hostages from a theater laced with booby traps and several dozen suicide bombers. They turned to chemicals Russian scientists had been researching for years, and pumped an aerosol containing potent forms of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the theater before storming it. "I lay down and started praying," said Vladimir Stukanov, the director of the children's troupe at the theater. Commandos stormed the theater and killed the attackers, but more than 120 hostages died from the effects of the chemicals. "I continued throwing up and throwing up and throwing up," she said.

Source: ABC News October 07, 2016 08:06 UTC