KAZBECK ZARAGASOV could not believe his luck when he managed to escape middle school No 1 only minutes after it had been stormed by more than 30 terrorists.

Together with a friend, the 17-year-old fled to safety across the courtyard as the hostage takers fired their AK-47s in the air. But as the two took refuge behind a wall, Zaragasov froze.

He looked back, frantically searching for Agunda, his 10- year-old sister. But she had been too slow. With horror he realised she was trapped inside the school, held at gunpoint.

In one of the many acts of bravery to have emerged from Russia’s bloodiest terrorist attack, Zaragasov turned and ran back into the school. As he put his life back into the hands of the attackers, he shouted to his friend that he could not leave without Agunda.

For the next 52 hours the brother and sister were among more than 1,000 hostages held in the siege that ended with the death of up to 400 people, many of them children. Both Kazbeck and Agunda survived and were reunited with their parents.

“The terrorists attacked on the side of the school where the youngest children were gathered,” Kazbeck said yesterday. “The older students were on the other side of the courtyard and started running away. I did, too, but then I thought of Agunda and ran back. I was terrified for her. I couldn’t leave her alone.”

Amid the grief, families also paid tribute to the strength and bravery shown by so many of the children such as Kazbeck.

When the first explosions rocked the hot crowded gymnasium, six-year-old captive Alana Dzandarova felt utterly alone. Sobbing with fear, she said: “Please don’t leave me behind.”

Alana’s mother Zalina had also been a hostage, but was allowed to carry her two-year-old boy to safety. Agonisingly, Alana was left behind.

As Russian troops stormed the school, Alana instinctively grasped the older boy next to her. With a steady reassurance, the 15-year-old led her out of the crossfire into the daylight.

She just clung on for her life, emerging from her school shocked, dehydrated and covered in blood. Zalina was amazed that her daughter had survived. She said: “I still can’t believe that everything is over now, and both my kids are alive — this is a real miracle.”

Zalina said her debt was to the unnamed boy. “(Alana) just held on tight to that boy. If it had not been for him, I would probably never see my girl again,” she said.

Along with her mother, Zalina spent hours trying to find Alana after the siege ended. Zamira Kudzoyeva, 64, told the Los Angeles Times: “We finally found her at the hospital. She was wearing only her underpants. She was all covered in blood, but there was not a single scratch on her body. It was somebody else’s blood. She just smiled. She was just happy to see us. She told me, ‘I’m not going to school any more. There’s a war at school’.”

Witnesses have said the youngest children remained composed and behaved with “great discipline”.

Stanislav Tsarakhov, 10, said his life may have been saved in the gym by a woman he did not know. After the first main explosion, she threw herself on top of him and protected him from a second blast.

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