The Beslan school siege, also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre, was a terrorist attack that occurred from 1 September 2004 to 3 September 2004. It lasted three days, and involved the imprisonment of more than 1,100 people as hostages, including 777 children, ending with the deaths of 334 people, 186 of them children, as well as 31 of the attackers. It is considered the deadliest school shooting in history.