Bus passengers described the collapse on the Crimean bridge: they were freezing for 7 hours

Near the Crimean bridge, hundreds of trucks are waiting for the ferry for several days. Passengers who go to Crimea by bus can also get to the peninsula only by water. Repair work on the bridge is moving at a fast pace, road and rail traffic has been established, but so far truckers and bus passengers have not been so lucky. Eyewitnesses told us about the situation.

Oksana was traveling to Crimea from Donetsk via Rostov by bus. October 11 at 3 am reached the port of Kavkaz. They hit the peninsula only after 8 hours.

– When we reached the bridge, the passengers were asked to get off the bus and wait for the ferry outside. It turned out that public transport does not go over the bridge, buses are not allowed on the ferry,” says Oksana. – We’ve been unloaded. Everyone’s documents and bags were checked. They said to wait for the ferry in a room near the port.

It was pretty cold in the building we were in. There weren’t enough seats for everyone. People stood, sat on their bags, whoever settled down. From three in the morning until eight in the morning, not a single port employee approached us. We did not understand what to do when we were sent. We just sat.

Then the ferry “Lavrentiy” came. We grabbed our things and ran there. We got on the ferry. There were no shops there. We squeezed among the trucks. It was very uncomfortable.

They stood in this position for an hour, but they did not manage to swim away. The port staff noticed us and ordered us to release the ferry. They shouted: “Why did you climb here?”. They scolded us in full. In turn, we also raised a scandal – they said that they were tired, cold, hungry.

We had old people and children with us. One woman became ill. Okay, someone got a blood pressure machine. The woman was given medical assistance and medicine. If something serious happened to her, I have no idea where we would look for doctors?

We sat down again to wait for the ferry. By nine in the morning, we were nevertheless allocated an old, rusty ferry, where all the passengers from our bus did not fit. At 10 o’clock we finally set sail. On that ferry there were soft benches and even tables. I was quickly seasick with fatigue. Sailed for 30 minutes.

When we got to Kerch, there was the same situation. Crowds of unfortunate passengers were waiting for the ferry.

– Why didn’t they give a ferry for so long?

Probably because there aren’t enough of them. When we first arrived, there was one ferry on the pier, and even that was broken. Then a truck arrived, where people were not allowed. First of all, trucks and military vehicles loaded it. Although we saw that one bus with people still stopped by. We have no idea who was in that thieves’ bus, but the common people were forced to suffer.

Two hours later the cargo ferry came again. By that time, other buses with passengers had arrived. There were more and more people. That’s when we made a fuss about why there is no ordinary, passenger ferry. They asked to put us in a truck, they said, we’ll stand between the trucks. We were not allowed.

Did the volunteers deliver food and water?

“No one helped us. There was no shop or cafe nearby. In the room where we were sitting, there was a cooler in which there was some water. The building itself was not heated. It was raining outside, and a strong wind picked up. It’s good that there was an outdoor toilet.

– It turns out that tourists who come to Crimea by bus should prepare for the tests?

“If you’re lucky and the trip is organized by a normal company, maybe they will be loaded onto a ferry in a bus. But I would not harbor hope, but prepare for the worst.

Truck driver Alexander shared his impressions of the traffic jam in front of the Crimean Bridge: “First of all, military vehicles are allowed on the ferry. Then there are refrigerators that carry food, because they can go bad. Then everyone else. The queue is not respected, you can’t tell who is behind whom. You arrive, sign up at the headquarters, but there is no guarantee that you will get on the ferry when your turn comes up.

Truck drivers are offered to go to Crimea via Mariupol. There are few who wish. There was a Gazelle in our parking lot, which had been standing since October 8. I stuck around for three days. He spat and left.

The undermining of the Crimean bridge was organized by the military intelligence of Ukraine. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation identified everyone who was preparing a terrorist act.