In Jeremy Bowen's recollection, Minutka Square was a meeting place for journalists and an assembly point for Chechen fighters, which made it a target. His crew stayed to collect freelance cameraman Nigel Chandler, who had spent days with the fighters and was relying on them for a lift out. They also needed the footage he had gathered. While waiting, the crew filmed burning buildings and interviewed fighters under continuing shellfire. Chechen fighters warmed themselves beside a ruptured gas main that was burning, a danger Bowen considered minor beside the bombardment.
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Why Bowen's crew remained in exposed Minutka Square
Collecting a stranded cameraman and his footage kept the BBC crew in a square that also served as an assembly point for Chechen fighters.