Khugaev: 1694 persons fell victim of the war in South Ossetia

Public Prosecutor of South Ossetia Taimuraz Khugaev has reported that presumably 1694 persons were lost in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.

We remind you that earlier international human rights activists insisted on the losses in South Ossetia to be several dozens of persons, asserting that the majority of those who are considered to be casualties today are in hospitals of Georgia.

"By interrogating people we have gathered information, which allows us to assume that the number of casualties of the aggression is 1694 persons. As of today, the investigation has cleared the circumstances of the death of over 500 persons," the RIA "Novosti" quotes the Public Prosecutor as saying.

Mr Khugaev has also added the following: "Nobody will tell you the precise death-roll today. During the aggression over 30,000 our citizens were forced to leave the Republic. Many of them were killed during this travel under fire," the "Komsomolskaya Pravda" writes.

Taimuraz Khugaev has added that "the overwhelming majority of these people were peaceful residents. The losses of the personnel of the Ministry of Defence of South Ossetia made 22 persons, and 10 persons were lost by the Ministry of Internal Affairs."