Relatives of those killed in a fire in a nursing home were surprised by the verdict

And the chief engineer to the last insisted on his innocence

The former chief engineer of the Third Age nursing home, where a terrible fire broke out in the spring of 2020, will have to spend 2.5 years in the colony. Then six pensioners died on the spot, four more subsequently died in hospitals. The investigation proved that gross violations of fire safety rules were hidden behind a beautiful facade.

As MK reported at one time, the fire in the boarding house located on 2nd Myakininskaya Street broke out late in the evening on April 8. A diesel boiler overheated and exploded in the boiler room located in the annex. The fire started immediately. There was a very strong smoke, and although the elderly guests were quickly taken out of the building, many of them died on the spot from carbon monoxide poisoning. 11 people were hospitalized, three received severe thermal inhalation injuries. Most of the victims never recovered from the incident. For example, pensioner Valentina Akimovna after the fire was in the hospital on a ventilator, she was tortured by asthma attacks, and two months later the 87-year-old woman died. At the same time, before the tragedy, everything suited her in the almshouse: concerts were arranged for the elderly, they organized their leisure time in circles, and all this for 50 thousand rubles a month. True, when a new building was opened in the institution, where bedridden patients were transferred, a shortage of staff began to be felt. Perhaps that is why the fire safety in the nursing home was not up to par. When the fire started, the alarm did not work, the operation of which was not paid for by the management. This was also stated at the trial by the former chief engineer Alexander Kolodny. He, like many employees of the boarding house, was fired a month and a half after the fire, and then almost immediately detained, having managed, however, to be put on the wanted list for a short time (Kolodny did not come to the investigator, as he was in coronavirus quarantine due to a small illness daughters). The man was placed under house arrest, which his relatives considered a good sign: after all, Kolodny is a citizen of Ukraine, and the investigator stressed the risk of the accused escaping. But this did not save the accused from prison.

The chief engineer himself at the trial insisted that he did not have the financial opportunity to influence the observance of fire safety rules. Nevertheless, he was found guilty precisely of violating these rules (Article 219 Part 3 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to 2.5 years in a penal colony. Many relatives of the victims did not even know that the fire case had been considered and received information from the media.