Neighbors recall horror as explosion destroys Boriki home

Investigators have been working since early morning on 12th District Street in Boriki, Ryazan region, where around 5:27 a house collapsed, injuring the 38-year-old owner. Law enforcement preliminarily suspects an explosion due to a gas leak, but definitive conclusions will come after the investigation.

A YA62.RU journalist visited the scene and spoke with neighbors. Elena Sidorova lives in a house right next to the collapsed one. Early in the morning, she, her husband, and their two children were awakened by a powerful explosion.

«We woke up to a loud explosion. I opened my eyes, and outside the window was a bright glow—everything red, but there was no fire. The whole family jumped up, and from the window we saw that the [neighbor»s] house was gone. We went downstairs to see what was happening. I called 112, and the first services arrived in about 15 minutes,« Elena recalls.

While the shocked Elena was calling emergency services, the victim—38-year-old Roman—miraculously crawled out of the collapsed aerated-concrete two-story house.

«He was standing there naked, barefoot. We started dressing Roman: my husband brought felt boots, we wrapped him in blankets. His arm was dangling badly—you could see it was injured,» the neighbor says.

The Sidorovs themselves, as rescuers told them, «got off with a light fright.» None of them were injured, but the windows in their house are slightly damaged, and the roof will need to be replaced or extensively repaired—it was damaged in the explosion.

Another acquaintance of the victim—Petr—said his house is fine, but his grandmother Nina lives closer. Her yard was already damaged by debris from the collapsed neighbor«s house, which, according to witnesses, flew into nearby areas.

«The whole settlement heard the explosion, everyone jumped up. It»s good that grandma was in the living room. She later said, «I went out and didn»t understand. Some blocks are lying around. And I didn«t even see that the house was gone.» Her roof is punctured, the shed is done for,« Petr recounts.

In the morning, he managed to see the victim Roman, who was in a state of shock.

«I found him in a state of shock. The man was crying, probably not understanding that something had happened. Then he started saying that his arm hurts, his back hurts, he can»t touch anything,« Petr noted.

After a brief silence, the neighbors began talking among themselves. It turned out that the victim had a dog named Alpha. The mongrel lived mainly outside, but the man often brought her inside. And, as people say, he loved and cared for her very much.

— The door just bent. Damn, did Alpha really die? — asks Alexei, Elena Sidorova«s husband.

— She was running around near him, I was watching. Or maybe it was some red one, it«s hard to see in the dark, — Elena replies.

— Sergey said she was covered [by collapsed blocks], lying over there, — added Petr, pointing somewhere into the depths of the rubble.

All utilities in the Boriki microdistrict are centralized, but a gas cylinder was found in the collapsed house. Investigators are conducting a check, and based on the results, decisions will be made if grounds are found.

Although neighboring houses are damaged, they are livable. Temporarily, gas has been shut off and electricity disconnected in Boriki: an electrician was working on a pole in the morning, so there is hope that at least by the end of the day, everyone will be reconnected to utilities.