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Nation Celebrates New Year by Scuffles, Fires, Suicides
The romance of early 2008 was spoiled by a string of accidents and death toll of dozens.
Long holidays in Russia are traditionally accompanied by hard drinking leading to the surge in suicides, fires and traffic accidents. Moscow witnessed a real battle with the fire-fight already in early hours of New Year.
Residents of Moscow Lianozovo shuddered from siren of police cars driving to Albatros Café, Cherepovetskaya St., to end the stand-off of two dozens. In no time, the fisticuffs developed into the knife-fight and shooting. Four people were delivered to local hospital to be cured of wounds.
Hardly the clock tinkled out twelve, two persons threw themselves out of windows, three hanged themselves and a woman took the lethal doze of medicine, making Russia’s capital an absolute leader in number of suicides.
Fire killed over 25 in the first days of 2008. Exactly drinking was the basic reason of those deaths.
Counterfeit pyrotechnic devices were another reason of agitation for emergency officers. Some 62, including 17 children suffered from them January 1 to 5. Though the burns and the bruises were the most common injuries caused by pyrotechnics of low grade, the New Year rocket split the scull of a salute-lover.
Drunken drivers were everywhere. Moscow survived the night with no serious traffic accidents, but as many as seven were killed and five were injured in the Moscow-Ufa highway January 1. And it was only the beginning. In Russia, we don't stop until the Old New Year, celebrating to the night from January 13 to 14.
www.kommersant.com
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Photo: Sergey Shahidzhanyan
