Death toll from the three-day hostage-taking tragedy in a southern Russian school has reached 330, including 156 children, Interfax news agency cited a regional official as saying on Saturday.

Seven people who were injured in the crisis died Saturday night in local hospitals, according to Lev Dzugayev, head of the information department of North Ossetia's presidential executive office.

By the night when the clean-up operation in the school area is finished, 270 bodies of hostages had been identified, and the identification work will continue during the night, according to Dzugayev.

The official said 448 injured people, including 248 children, remained in local hospitals and 69 of them are in critical condition.

Some 30 heavily armed militants seized the school in Russia's southern republic of North Ossetia on Wednesday, holding some 1,000 children and adults hostage for over 51 hours.

Russian troops suppressed armed hostage-takers in a 10-hour gunfight on Friday and rescued over 400 hostages.

Of the 26 killed hostage-takers, who demanded independence for the breakaway republic of Chechnya, ten are Arab mercenaries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised speech to the nation Saturday evening that the hostage-taking was a terrorist strike against the whole country.

He promised to take measures to strengthen the country's unity and security, including building up "an effective anti-crisis system."

Vowing not to give in, Putin called on all Russian citizens to unite in the face of the terrorist threat and defeat the enemy.

Putin has declared Tuesday and Wednesday mourning days for the victims in the bloody attack by terrorists.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2004)