Russian Government Covers-Up Details of Deadly Fire in Vladivostok

 

Sberbank Building in Vladicostok, Russia

On Monday, January 23, 2006 at approximately 11:45 AM (local time) a fire broke out inside a 9-story building in the city of Vladivostok, located on the Russian Pacific coast. The fire began on the 7th floor and affected the floors above; The 7th floor was occupied by Sberbank where the majority of employees were women 20-30 years of age. When firefighters arrived, they were instructed to enter the side of the back of the building which was not on fire and evacuate the bank’s top management staff.

 Meanwhile, lower-level employees on the top floors of the front side of the burning building were unable to escape the flames due to gates which were blocking the stairwells. Chief Regional Prosecutor, Alexander Anikin stated, “Some of the stairwells were barred… The evacuation was hindered.”. The evacuation was hindered further by the presence of a commercial parking lot located on the front side of the building. This parking lot was in violation of safety regulations and prevented firefighters from reaching employees in time. The building had no fire escape, emergency exits or other means of evacuation.

 At least fifteen employees jumped from the building to escape the fire; Three jumpers died. Bystander Ivan Petrov who witnessed three women jump from the building to escape the fire told NTV, “They waited until the very last moment. One woman was hanging beneath a window. She hung on and on… and then she let go.”. Although criminal cases were opened following the fire to investigate the blatant violation of fire safety regulations and lethal negligence, ultimately, no one was held responsible. The Russian government withheld information about the incident from the public and originally denied the incident altogether telling the public via official Russian media that the fire was a “rumor”.

 The official death toll, according to the Russian government was nine; Six died on the scene (including one person whose body was discovered inside the building hours later) and three who died after being rushed to the hospital. An additional fifteen were reported to have been hospitalized due to injuries.
But survivors of the event tell a very different story; According to employees who were rescued, the corridors of the building were filled with dead bodies and the death toll was much more significant than Russian officials will admit.  One of the building’s maintenance employees who wished to remain anonymous stated, “I know at least about thirteen dead inside …Not to consider those who’ve dropped down … Eight of them dropped, looking at the three already dead on the ground, but they went through the windows without hope to be rescued … They collected and hid the dead bodies inside.” On the evening of January 23, after the fire was extinguished, several employees were allowed into the building to recover documents.

 One of these employees, who had worked on the 6th floor of the building shared what he had seen inside with his sister, Lelya, “My brother worked in that building, on the 6th floor… After the fire they visited the building to collect the documents… They saw how workers transported the dead bodies. He said, there were 50-60 [dead bodies]”.

A resident of Vladivostok spoke out following the fire, claiming, “The cops, whom I know, say that they’ve been loading the dead bodies all night long.”. It is believed approximately 70 people were killed in total. Lelya, and many like her, have been working to piece together the story of what actually happened.

 Unfortunately, when new information regarding the incident emerges on the internet is is quickly edited or removed by the Russian government making it difficult for citizens to share their evidence with one another. Despite the government’s best efforts to cover-up the truth, Russian citizens know the information they have been told regarding the fire is false and they are speaking out.

One Russian woman asserted, “My daughter worked in a justice department. She said that there were actually much more dead- up to 70. She went on [about] the dead bodies, getting out from the building… Some of them were so scorched, that it was impossible to identify them… Nine victims? That’s a lie!”

Due to lax enforcement of safety regulations in the country, Russia’s rate of death by fire is ten times that of the United States.
The following video is of the Sberbank Fire in Vladivostock, Russia on January 23, 2006. It contains graphic, disturbing images and depictions of death. Please use discretion.

Photos courtesy News.VL.ru
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The Bombing of Guernica

The infamous Bombing of Guernica was an aerial attack on the town of Guernica in Basque County, Spain that took place on April 26, 1937. The attack, which lasted three hours, was carried out by the German Air Force’s Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria, at the request of the Spanish National Government during the Spanish Civil War, often refered to as “dress rehearsal” for World War II. Although modern estimates range from 153-400 civilians killed in the raid on the Spanish town, the Basque government reported 1,654 deaths and Russian records from May 1, 1937 claim 800, not including those resulting from injury or bodies which were later recovered from the rubble. Guernica suffered one of the first raids carried out by an air force on a defenseless civilian population in modern times. The bombing and its aftermath were so horrific, the event went onto inspire Picasso’s anti-war painting ‘Guernica’ and was featured in a woodcut by German artist Heinz Kiwitz, who died while fighting for the International Brigades on the side of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The Bombing of Guernica, code name “Operation Rugen”, was executed in 5 waves of air strike with at least 45 aircraft. During the first wave, twelve 110lb (50kg) bombs were dropped on the city, the following wave destroyed the bridge to the east of the town preventing citizens from escaping. Fighter pilots were given specific instruction to not bomb the town itself, only possible escape routes during the second wave. Still, 36 additional 110lb (50kg) bombs were dropped on the city during a 60 second pass over Guernica from north to south. The three following waves of attack on the city caused the most devastation, destroying 3/4 of the buildings.    

Josefinas Hospital was only one of many buildings destroyed in the bombing, when it was hit all 42 wounded militiamen inside the building were killed. Another 50 people, most of whom were women and children, were found trapped under burning wreckage. Those who tried to escape were shot and witnesses say there were thousands of bullets fired. Some did make it out of the town and hid in fields as far as 4 miles away from the burning city of Guernica. Even most who made it to these fields were shot down. One priest who survived, when asked what had happened in his town, pointed back towards Guernica and whispered, “Aviones… Bombas’… Mucho, mucho.” Which translates to, “Aircraft… Bombed… Much, much.”. People inside the city were hiding in shelters and praying. Aronategui, an elderly priest who was unable to make it out if the city was killed while rescuing children from a burning building. The flames engulfing the city could be seen from ten miles away and th fires lasted three days. Survivor accounts from inside the town after the attacks are horrific: a thick stench of burning human flesh, Basque soldiers sobbing and frantically trying to recover bodies from the rubble to no avail.

In the aftermath, approximately 100 survivors say in the town plaza in shock. Amazingly, the only things left of the city after the attack were The Santa Maria Church, a 600 year old tree which was a sacred symbol to the Basque people, and a small munitions factory on the outskirts of town.

George Steer of the New York Times visited Guernica shortly after the attack and reported on what he experienced there in his piece, The Tragedy of Guernica Town Destroyed in Air Attack Eye Witness Account published in The New York Times on April 22, 1937. Steer commented, “A sight that will haunt me for weeks was the charred bodies of several women and children huddled together in what had been the cellar of a house.” The Bombing of Guernica and its 7,000 citizens is still considered to be unparalleled in military history today.

  

Read George Steer’s New York Times Article The Tragedy of Guernica Town Destroyed in Air Attack Eye Witness Account from April 22, 1937 in its entirety 

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