In the Vremena Goda shopping center on Kutuzovsky Prospekt in Moscow, a pipe burst, from which boiling water gushed. Four people died as a result of the accident. Initially, the city media reported one dead, but later the number of victims increased.

“The tragedy in the shopping center claimed the lives of three more people. Condolences to family and friends. Rescuers continue to work, ”wrote the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, on Telegram.

Pipe burst and ammonia leak

According to Shot, all four of the victims worked at the Globus Gourmet store. The grocery store is located on the minus first floor. Rescuers have already removed the bodies of the victims.

In total, about 70 people were injured due to a pipe rupture, said a source of the Moskva agency familiar with the situation.

Due to pouring water, about 20 people were blocked inside the shopping center. The Moskva agency, citing emergency services, reported that they were “in a safe room.” By now, these people have already left the building. Telegram channel Mash also reported that the smell of ammonia was heard on the second floor. According to the preliminary version, there was a leak from the refrigerators.

City services are working to eliminate the consequences of a pipe burst.

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Western Administrative District took control of the investigation into the circumstances and causes of the incident. On the spot, the work of law enforcement agencies is coordinated by the first deputy prosecutor of the Western Administrative District, Soslan Khubulov.

The Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for Moscow opened a case under the article “Provision of services that do not meet safety requirements, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence”.

What eyewitnesses say

As one of the eyewitnesses told TASS, no one announced the evacuation at Vremena Goda.

“There was no signal about the evacuation. Many learned about what happened from the news, ”the source said.

An employee of the shopping center named Vlada also assures that for half an hour employees and visitors were not informed in any way about the danger threatening them. According to the girl, she worked on the third floor of the building and learned about the state of emergency from a relative.

“There was no alarm, there was no sound, there was no publicity.

Everyone was calm for the first thirty minutes. I myself learned about this from the news that my sister sent me. She knew that I was working (in the shopping center – Gazeta). And then I just went downstairs to see what was happening. Hot steam rose from the escalators,” Vlada Shot said.

She clarified that after that she immediately went down to the ground floor, where there were already quite a large number of people. However, no one was evacuated from the building.

“We stood for twenty minutes. And I wondered why no one was evacuating us.

Because it’s not normal,” the Muscovite concluded.

Another eyewitness told the Baza Telegram channel that they tried to force the cleaners of the shopping center to remove boiling water from the floor with mops, while the guards did not know how to behave in such a situation.

“I ran and saw the scalded legs of my friends,” she said.

How the shopping center reacted

The shopping center administration issued a commentary on the emergency, indicating that “an evacuation and emergency assistance to employees and visitors was immediately organized”, emergency services also promptly arrived at the scene. Vremena Goda continues to “provide maximum assistance to emergency services.”

“On behalf of the mall, we offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.

All the victims are now receiving timely medical assistance, ”the press service quotes the words of the CEO of Vremen Goda, Lilit Adibekyan.

The Vremena Goda Gallery was opened in 2007. The area of ​​the building is more than 32 thousand square meters. m. The shopping center occupies six floors.“They fell into boiling water”: how the guests of the Perm hostel died