The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the death of three people after the incident in one of the bath complexes in the south of Moscow. According to the press service of the metropolitan administration of the TFR, on February 28, a company of 18 people celebrated their birthday in a bath complex located in Kolomenskoye passage.
“As a result of using chemical elements to create visual effects, two visitors died at the scene. Several participants in the event were hospitalized, one of them, despite the medical assistance provided, died, ”the department’s press service noted.
In fact of this state of emergency, a criminal case has been instituted under Part 3 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Causing death by negligence of two or more persons”).
Investigators have already interrogated employees of the bath complex. All circumstances and causes of the incident are clarified. TFR Chairman Alexander Bastrykin instructed and. about. the heads of the capital’s administration take personal control of the investigation.
As a source in law enforcement agencies told RT, information about the incident came to law enforcement at around 9:00 pm on Friday, February 28. The tragedy occurred in one of the halls of the Ninth Val bath complex, rented to celebrate a birthday.
According to available information, at about 8:30 p.m. several party participants were placed in the swimming pool until the exact amount of dry ice was determined. It is solid carbon dioxide, which is commonly used in food refrigeration units. When released into water, this substance releases a large amount of carbon dioxide, which is accompanied by the effect of the formation of thick fog.
- AGN "Moscow"
- © Voronin Denis
According to a RT source, a large amount of smoke was formed during the chemical reaction, which caused three people to pass out. Two of them (Yuri Alferov and Natalya Monakova, both born in 1995) died on the spot, drowning in water. By the time the police arrived at the scene, the victims of the incident were dead for about 20 minutes.
Five more victims were taken from the scene of the tragedy to the hospital, where Valentin Didenko (born 1988), the husband of Instagram blogger Ekaterina Didenko, who celebrated her 29th birthday in the bath complex, died in intensive care.
The Storis girls published in the account confirm the information about the tragedy. So, in a series of short videos, the picture of the celebration of the birthday and general fun is replaced by the message of Didenko herself about the death of the guests.
“Vali is no longer with us, and also Natasha and Yura. I can’t give any more comments. I wrote a note on non-disclosure of information, ”the girl says.
Later, she published several more videos in which she asked for psychological help contacts, adding that she did not know how to tell her children about the death of her husband.
According to RT, in a preliminary diagnosis during the hospitalization of Valentin Didenko, in addition to drowning in water, the toxic effect of the “unspecified substance” was recorded.
Among the hospitalized were also Boyko A.A. (Born in 1991), Zyuzina E.S. (B. 1996), Zvyagin V.V. (1988 p.) And Salnikov S.A. (Born in 1989). All of them came with preliminary diagnoses of “drowning in fresh water” or “carbon dioxide poisoning”.
Already on February 29, a video appeared on social networks of the moment when dry ice was poured into the pool. Record was made by one of the guests of the party. The video shows the above-mentioned visual effect of the formation of thick white smoke creeping through the water.
- Party screenshot from Instagram
It is worth adding that in the adopted system of standards for the handling of hazardous substances, dry ice can be used outdoors only in well-ventilated areas - precisely because of the danger of carbon dioxide intoxication. In addition, carbon dioxide is heavier than air, which means that after dropping a container of dry ice into the water above the pool a dense layer of carbon dioxide has formed, Valentin Vlasov, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained in an interview with RT.
“They probably wanted to create a beautiful environment, fog. And carbon dioxide is heavier than air, and in such a situation it stands above the water in a layer. Because people were in the water, their heads found themselves in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. That is, there was no oxygen there, and they simply lost consciousness, ”the expert suggested.