In the city of Luga, Leningrad Region, during the festivities in honor of the folklore holiday “Olginy Shore”, the pedestrian bridge suddenly folded in half.

As a result of the incident, nine people were injured, one of them died from his injuries in a medical facility.

The condition of three hospitalized doctors is assessed as moderate. There is no threat to their lives.

Five more victims independently applied for help to the Luga hospital with minor injuries, the press service of the governor Alexander Drozdenko and the government of the Leningrad region reported.

The Regional Health Committee took over the provision of assistance to the victims.

According to 47news, the deceased man was 70 years old.

After the collapse, it was crushed by the bridge structures, the people nearby were able to lift them up and pull out the pensioner. He was carried to the ambulance on a stretcher.

“On the fact of the death of a person as a result of the collapse of a pedestrian bridge, a criminal case was initiated on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing death by negligence), ”the press service of the regional department of the Investigative Committee of Russia reports.

The investigative team is at the scene. The city attorney went there.

“The bridge crunched underfoot”

The festival-festival “Olga’s Shores” is associated with the reign of Princess Olga, who visited the Luga lands in 947. Every year, a theatrical performance is played in the city: a boat with a “princess” floats along the river and moors to the city pier.

This time the festival began at two o’clock in the afternoon, at about three, visitors crowded on the bridge to meet the main heroine of the celebration. He could not withstand such a heavy load and collapsed. It was quite hot during the day, so some festival participants stood in the shade under the bridge. In Voronezh, the “city talisman” suffered: the mayor’s office introduces an emergency mode due to flooding of the streets During the day, bad weather rages in Voronezh. The wall of the Stone Bridge collapsed in the city center… 03 June 22:23

“The audience stood on the bridge in three or four rows, it was completely packed, this is a convenient point. After about two minutes, the bridge collapsed sharply, ”says Lyudmila, one of the eyewitnesses.

“Olga was expected by 2 pm, there were already three rows of people standing there – the best places. And the bridge crunched underfoot,” says Ksenya, who was also present at the celebration.

At the moment when the boat with Princess Olga appeared on the horizon, the participants of the festival, who were standing near the bridge, rushed to it in order to better see what was happening.

“No one expected this”

“Suddenly crackling and silence. They didn’t even really understand what happened. The knights were the first to immediately rush – healthy men in armor met the boat on the shore.

Then the eyewitnesses began to call the doctors from the audience. There was no ambulance on duty at the celebration, although there were a lot of people,

– says another resident of the city, who was near the bridge at the time of the emergency.

Alena, an eyewitness to the incident, told Gazeta that 30-40 people were on the bridge at the time of the collapse. According to her, one of the victims received a head injury, another girl had a scratched forehead.

“Many people asked people to leave the bridge, as it is old and there are a lot of people on it,” Alena recalls.

According to Polina, another witness of what happened, the bridge never assumed such loads, and the holiday itself had previously taken place on another section of the embankment.

“I have not heard calls to release the bridge. Nobody expected this. The organizers tried to help the victims. Usually this holiday was held in a different place, but now there is landscaping,” she noted.

As local residents told Izvestia, the bridge was new. It was built several years ago. Fontanka clarifies that the construction was carried out by the Luga company Zenit-Group. As part of the project of the Ministry of Construction “Formation of a comfortable urban environment”, 22 million rubles were allocated. The holiday “Olginy Shore” this year cost the city authorities 425 thousand rubles. “There was a huge crowd on the bridge when it suddenly collapsed. I grabbed the rope and survived.” A footbridge across the Machhu River collapsed in western India. There were about 500 people on it… October 31 00:30

According to the newspaper, despite what happened, the festival was not canceled. The celebration continued on Peace Square, located not far from the scene. Many guests do not know anything about the incident – the organizers of the festival did not inform them about the emergency.