Chechen attackers holding hundreds of people hostage in a Moscow theater shot dead two more of their captives and wounded two early on Saturday, security officials said. "In the past two hours, the attackers killed two hostages and wounded two people," Pavel Kudryavtsev, an official from the emergency team overseeing the hostage drama told reporters outside the theater.

"They also set off gunfire and explosions. The gunfire and explosions originated from the attackers. Federal forces did not initiate them."

Both dead hostages were men, Kudryavtsev said.

The attackers earlier told a Russian journalist acting as a negotiator they would take serious action early on Saturday if they did not see evidence of the Russians meeting their demands.

Those injured were a woman shot in the stomach and a man shot in the head. Medics were seen taking two hostages out of the theater earlier on Saturday. No foreign hostages were among the dead or injured.

Earlier, several rounds of gunfire and at least three explosions resounded outside the theater where the Chechens have held 700 civilians hostage since late on Wednesday.

The Chechens had already killed one woman who tried to escape during the initial assault.

PHOTO CAPTION

Russian medics remove one of two hostages on October 26 from a theatre where Chechen guerrillas are holding hundreds captive in Moscow. The rebels have threatened serious action on Saturday if Russian troops don't withdraw from Chechnya. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin