Volgograd official tried for schoolgirl's boiler room fall

The head of the capital construction department of the municipal unitary enterprise «Volgograd Communal Services» (MUP «VKKh») faces trial over an abandoned boiler room in the Krasnooktyabrsky District of Volgograd. Last autumn, a 13-year-old schoolgirl fell into it and suffered serious injuries. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Recall, the tragedy occurred on 1 September last year. The girl came home from school, changed clothes, and went to a friend«s house, but never returned. A search began. Two days later, on 3 September, she was found in the basement of an abandoned building at Severny Gorodok Street, 1. The injured girl required surgery.

According to local residents, the boiler room has been out of operation for more than 15 years, but no one is in a hurry to demolish it. As reported by the regional Investigative Committee (SK), the person responsible for its condition was the head of the capital construction department of the municipal unitary enterprise «Volgograd Communal Services» (MUP «VKKh»), Andrey Artamonov.

«The accused was obliged to monitor the condition of facilities on the enterprise«s balance sheet, promptly identify potentially dangerous buildings and structures, take measures to restrict access to them, and also organize work to dismantle them and eliminate threats to the life and health of citizens,» the agency clarified. «The boiler room building had previously been declared unfit for operation and subject to demolition. But measures to dismantle the facility and restrict access to its territory were not taken.»

A criminal case was opened against Andrey Artamonov under the article «Negligence resulting in the reckless infliction of grievous bodily harm to a person.» On 27 January, the case was sent to the Krasnooktyabrsky District Court.