“Before that, I only saw this in the movies”: a resident of Yeysk told RT how he saved the survivors when the Su-34 fell into the courtyard of the house

- Tell us, where were you at the time of the plane crash, how did you decide to go help the rescuers?

- At first I didn’t know anything about the plane itself, it was just that at that moment I was nearby on business.

Friends called and told what happened.

I realized that it was very close, and went there, left the car nearby.

First I went to see how deplorable everything was, I saw smoke, people in the windows.

At one time, I took rescue courses and thought that extra hands would not interfere there. 

How was the evacuation of the residents?

“From the other side of the house, it was burning strongly, burning from top to bottom, there was a lot of smoke.

But the entrances to the entrances were from the yard.

The stairs in the house also survived.

For the first 20 minutes, I helped the rescuers install stretch marks at the bottom so that if people jump out, they would not be killed.

Then they saw a woman in the window, they called me to help her out.

From that moment on, I, along with other guys, worked inside the building.

We checked the apartments, and in those that were closed, we cut down the doors and also looked to see if anyone was inside.

They even looked into the closets - you know, there could be children there, they could get scared and just hide.

There were many people who saved the residents in that entrance.

Only two people worked with me: an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a soldier.

There were also civilian volunteers - I counted at least six of them.

- How many people did you save or with you?

- The three of us - me, an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a military man - first worked on the lower floors.

At the entrance to one of the apartments on the second floor, I noticed children's shoes.

He asked the men, we went in, checked - what if there was a child there?

In the room, indeed, lay a child of nine or ten years old.

Unconscious, but alive.

The parents were not at home.

We took him out, handed him over to the doctors and went back to the entrance.

Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations rescued several grandmothers with me, brought out a disabled man of about 50 years old ... He himself did not walk well, and the guys downstairs and I secured him so that if he fell, he wouldn’t break anything.

Even on the spot, as far as I know, the ensign of the unit to which the crashed plane belonged worked.

We gave him a tool, a petrol cutter, to cut the door off when he worked on the ninth floor.

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Have you seen the dead?

— Yes, the dead were also carried out... But in general, I was busy most of the time, there was no time to watch.

Those who were simply unconscious or saved themselves were immediately sent to the doctors, we informed them to the ambulances and went on to check the apartments.

- How many people, according to your feelings, were in the entrance at the time of the plane crash?

- The feeling is that many were lucky and by this moment they had not yet managed to return home from work.

There were many closed apartments, we opened the doors, went in and realized that there was no one inside.

The apartment is all burnt out, but no one is at home.

Many still managed to jump out [from the house] themselves, in some apartments we saw that people even tried to collect some things, there were packages near the doors.

Apparently, then people realized that there was no time, and ran out light.

In this entrance, there are four apartments on each floor; the rescuers and I walked around from the first to the ninth floor.

There, it turns out, more than 30 apartments.

Upstairs, in the attic, for example, there was very strong smoke, it was impossible to get through without special means and equipment - rescuers were working there.

— You said you studied to be a lifeguard.

How was it and what knowledge and skills did you need yesterday?

— I took rescue courses during my studies at a technical school, when I lived in Ulan-Ude.

I am generally from Buryatia, I moved here to live and work only four months ago.

Then, during the courses at the technical school, we were given some of the most fundamental, elementary knowledge about the work of rescuers, this is not exactly my specialty.

Of course, the situation was extreme.

A lot of special equipment, ambulances, firefighters, military.

I've only seen this in movies and on the news before.

Live - never.

Sirens howled, some people screamed, there was smoke and fire everywhere... It was not easy to keep a cool head, but at the rescue courses at the technical school, the instructors just explained to us how important it is to remain calm.

I have some basic knowledge of first aid.

I checked the pulse of one woman we found, asked the person who was with me not to touch her head: I know that if there is a fracture, it is better to move it as little as possible.

The person who was with me turned out to be a doctor himself, did everything carefully, helped that woman.

- How was medical assistance provided on the spot?

Are you feeling well now, have you been injured or poisoned?

“Medical care was provided to everyone at once, there were a lot of doctors there.

I myself did not suffer at all, I feel fine, today I am already at work.

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I stayed there yesterday for a total of three hours, and at the end I felt a little dizzy, but I asked the doctors in the ambulance to give me oxygen to breathe - everything went away.

There were other civilians there, I even met one of my countrymen, a man from Ulan-Ude.

There was, it seems, also an employee of the water utility and a man who, apparently, worked in that house himself - he opened the doors for rescuers, the attic, let them through everywhere.

- How many people who returned home after the accident were near the house during the evacuation?

After all, the people were probably looking for their relatives, acquaintances, pets, right?

- Only those who managed to get there before the cordon were allowed to enter the house.

They stopped letting everyone through very quickly, you know - special equipment, fire hoses need to be deployed.

Of course, there were those who were looking for their loved ones.

Animals were also rescued, in my presence an EMERCOM officer threw a cat out of the window to his colleagues, she is alive, everything turned out well with her.

But there was not much time to look for animals - people would have been saved.

What is the current situation in the city?

Is there any other volunteer help needed?

All the residents of the city help in any way they can.

Entrepreneurs, for example, accommodate people in hotels for free, residents of the affected house were also placed in the nearby shopping center Meotida.

Now we are collecting essentials, clothes.

In general, as far as I was told, people are now housed, warmed and fed.

I asked if I needed more help, but I was told that not yet.

If needed, of course, I am ready to help further.

Thank you for your courage, you are a real hero.

— I was not alone there, many people helped.