Hostage-takers opened automatic gunfire Tuesday on board the bus they had earlier seized in southern Russia with more than 40 people on board, ORT television reported.
Three rounds of gunshots from an automatic weapon were heard around 5:40 pm (1440 GMT) near the airport at Mineralnye Vody, the station reported.
RIA Novosti news agency separately reported that shots had been fired in the air.
The hostage-takers had earlier threatened to begin shooting the civilians by nightfall, unless a series of demands that included the release of five jailed Chechen gunmen had been met -- MOSCOW (AFP)
