Renovated Moscow theater reopens three months after crisis

MOSCOW -- The Moscow theater where Chechen militants took hundreds of people hostage in a deadly raid last October officially reopened Saturday after three months of repairs.

Meanwhile, Russian police detained three Chechens suspected of involvement in the attack, a news agency reported.

Chechen gunmen seized the theater on Oct. 23 during a performance and took about 800 people hostage. Three days later, Russian special forces troops stormed the building, killing all 41 hostage-takers. In the end, 129 hostages died, the vast majority killed by a narcotic gas used to incapacitate the militants.

The theater was renovated with $2.5 million from the Moscow city government. It has a new security system with metal detectors and a refurbished interior, including a new audio system and orchestra pit.

"Nothing in this hall will remind us of those terrible days," said Nord-Ost producer Georgy Vasiliyev at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by actors and Moscow city officials. "Even former hostages who have visited can't find their seats" because of the extensive renovations, he said.

An influential business association, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, has pledged $317,000 to revive the musical. A new production is scheduled for Feb. 8, but it remains unclear whether the public will embrace it, Vasiliyev said.

"It's understandable that people will never again be able to look at this show as simply theater," he said.

Russian police detained the three Chechens in the city of Penza, about 310 miles southeast of Moscow, on suspicion of involvement in the October hostage-taking, the Interfax news agency reported.

The agency quoted the local police chief, Alexander Gulyakov, as saying that the three had been put under surveillance after settling in Penza immediately after the theater raid.

He said federal police and intelligence officials had confirmed that the three played a role in the hostage-taking, but did not elaborate. The suspects have been transferred to Moscow, he said.