Concert for Beslan siege victims

Prince Charles attended the concert at the London Coliseum

A fundraising concert in memory of the 330 children and adults who died in the Beslan school siege took place in London on Sunday night.

Beslan - A Concert for the Future was attended by Prince Charles.

Conductor Valery Gergiev, the Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre performed at the London Coliseum show.

More than 1,000 people were taken hostage after about 30 armed raiders seized the school in September.

'Hope and redemption'

It ended in bloodshed two days later when explosives planted by the hostage-takers went off inside and Russian special forces stormed the building. Half the victims were children.

Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev later admitted being behind the hostage-taking and other recent attacks on civilians in Russia.

In the event's programme, the prince thanked those who had supported the Beslan Appeal, "and in doing so offered hope and redemption to a town blighted by the most appalling and inhuman atrocity.

"The Mariinsky Theatre's cultural programme in the Caucasus will work to unite fractured communities and provide spiritual healing through involvement in the arts."