Congrats and condolences to the Ruskies

[Undertoad]

The death toll in the Chechen hostage situation has risen to 118 captives and 50 rebels. But with 750 rescued from terrorists who were loaded with bombs, with the entire place mined, and the rebels willing to die with their fingers on the detonator buttons, the toll could have been much higher.

What kind of gas could be inserted into a room via the ventilation system and would have the effect of immediately rendering everyone in the building unconscious without being detected?

Apparently the gas killed some of the people all by itself, and others had to be hospitalized for nothing other than gassing. Here's speculating it was a powerful nerve agent. The hospitalized don't include any of the rebels because the modus operandi here was to walk in after the gas had taken effect and shoot the baddies cold.

That works for me, but I do wonder whether the US authorities would have the same level of resolve. Apparently that's how it had to be done; if one of them wakes up early and detonates, the death toll could be much, much higher.

In fact, it could have been like this: you have ten minutes to get in, and with your special breathing equipment in place, put a bullet in the head of anyone with a bomb strapped to their belly, and give this antidote to everyone else you can find. I don't know, but that might have been how it was.