A total of 32 terrorists were involved in the seizure of hostages in Russia's North Ossetian town of Beslan, Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky said on Sunday.

The bodies of 30 terrorists have been discovered, including four found last night, Interfax news agency quoted Fridinsky as saying.

He said that the hostage-takers were of various ethnic groups, including Chechens, Ingushes, Kazakhs, Arabs and Slavs.

But so far not all of the bodies have been identified, said Fridinsky.

On Sept. 1, the terrorists attacked a school in the North Ossetian town of Beslan, seizing over 10,000 hostages, among them children, their parents and teachers.

The Russian special forces put an end on Friday evening to the hostage crisis after hours of intensive exchanges of gunfire with the hostage-takers. The terror incident has claimed at least 338 lives and wounded more than 700 people.

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2004)