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But questions were being asked about the ease with which a commando unit of more than 30 diehard fighters armed with AK-47s and grenade launchers had crossed the border with Chechnya and Ingushetia.

“One of the terrorists boasted how they had bribed their way into town, paying off the local traffic police to pass without the proper checks,” said Zalina Misikova, who was held with her two sons.

Russian officers who took part in the shootout said one of the greatest mistakes had been to allow armed relatives of the hostages so close to the school. Some were said to have shot at the school from the first day despite the terrorists’ threats to execute 20 hostages for each wounded Chechen.

When Russian forces advanced, local men also rushed towards the school, hampering the hunt for the terrorists. “It was mayhem,” said one special forces officer.

Hostages said the terrorists had complained they could not make contact with Russian negotiators after the siege began on Wednesday.

At 7am on Thursday the elite Alfa anti-terrorist unit was ordered to prepare 30 people to storm the school, even as the head of the FSB was ruling out the use of force.

Russian claims that up to 10 Arab fighters had been among the terrorists were being treated with growing scepticism last night. Many hostages said they had not seen any Arabs; nor had they heard any of the gunmen speak Arabic.

The Russian authorities continued to hunt for three terrorists thought to have escaped during the fighting. The FSB said an accomplice outside the school who was suspected of passing the terrorists information about the movements of special forces by mobile phone had been detained.

Security sources said several hostages had identified Doku Umarov and Magomet Yevloyiev as the leaders of the terrorist operation, after being shown photographs of them by investigators. Both are field commanders close to the Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for the Moscow theatre siege in which 130 hostages died two years ago.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, flew to Beslan early yesterday and visited the wounded. He insisted that the security forces had never planned to storm the school, but warned that more effective action against terror would be demanded of them in future. Russia, he said, was facing “total, cruel and all-powerful war” by terrorists.

In a sombre television address Putin admitted the authorities had failed to recognise or react effectively to the new threats. “We stopped giving enough attention to questions of defence and security, and allowed corruption to infect our judicial and law enforcement sphere,” he said.

“Moreover, our country, which used to have the strongest defence system of its external borders, instantly became unprotected from either the west or the east.” He pledged to strengthen Russia’s unity, create a more effective crisis management system and overhaul law enforcement.

But some Beslan residents were unimpressed by Putin’s lightning visit and accused him of posturing for television cameras. “He saw no one and talked to no one,” said one local. “He just wanted to show the world how young and handsome he is but he hasn’t helped and he won’t help and he can’t stop this happening again.”

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