MOSCOW, December 10./TASS/. Additional measures of support will be devised for those affected in the Beslan school siege tragedy of 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged on Tuesday.

"This is a great pain - my personal and that of the whole country - that will never end," the president spoke of the Beslan tragedy at a session of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.

"I have made a note, I will look into [measures of additional support for those affected in the Beslan tragedy]. If the people need additional support, this must be done, we will certainly look into this," Putin said.

More than 1,200 people were taken hostage during the terrorist attack at a school in Beslan, which occurred on September 1, 2004, the first day of the academic year. The tragedy claimed 334 lives, including 186 children. Some 126 of these hostages became handicapped, of them 70 children, who still need rehabilitation.