Survivors Recall Horror as Novosibirsk Mall Floor Collapses
On Wednesday, January 21, an emergency occurred on Naumova Street in the Pervomaysky District of Novosibirsk. The second floor of the two-story shopping mall, like a house of cards, collapsed inward. At that moment, five people were in the Planet of Clothing and Footwear store located there. Two managed to escape on their own, while three were extracted from under the rubble by rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS). NGS contacted two surviving female customers who shared what they experienced during the collapse and while waiting for rescuers.
«Everything Suddenly Started Falling and Collapsed into the Center»
Friends Maria N. and Tatyana B., both residents of the Pervomaysky District, happened to be at the mall on Naumova Street on January 21. According to Maria, they were driving past KSM, noticed the large sign for the Planet of Clothing and Footwear store, and thought it would be nice to buy T-shirts for their daughters.
According to the Rusprofile service, OOO Planeta Odezhda Obuv was registered in Novosibirsk in 2017. It is managed by its sole owner, Sidikjon Bobodjonov. The profitability of the clothing store chain is unknown: according to Rusprofile, the company last reported income in 2018, showing zero revenue and profit at that time.
Around five in the evening on a weekday, the store was not crowded: according to both friends, they were the only customers. Three employees were also in the premises: a male cashier and two sales assistants.
The friends quickly picked out T-shirts for the children and were about to go to the checkout area when Maria decided to take advantage of the occasion and get new leggings as well. She moved just two racks away from the T-shirt hangers, while Tatyana stayed waiting for her in the center of the hall.
«It all happened very quickly, there were no sounds, nothing. Suddenly, sharply, from all corners — tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk! — everything started falling, and collapsed into the center,» Maria N. told an NGS correspondent. «The girl [sales assistant] had just walked away from me, and everything collapsed.»
The fate of that girl now troubles both Siberian women: judging by official reports, which state that only three people were trapped under the rubble, she managed to save herself. But whether she was injured and in what condition is unknown to Maria and Tatyana.
«It was very fast. The ceiling was falling in front of my face,» Tatyana B. said. «I was only saved because clothing racks fell on top of me, then sandwich panels on them, and on top of that — metal structures. It turned out as if a small dome formed above me, and I lay buried under things. It all happened so fast that I didn»t even have time to see if the sales assistant managed to run out, if the boy [sales assistant] who was sitting on the pouf with a phone managed to run out. Nothing is clear about the girl at all, she«s not mentioned anywhere [in the reports].»
Maria was much less fortunate: nothing covered her. A heavy metal structure fell on her leg, breaking bones. The Siberian woman ended up pinned under the rubble — shocked, frightened, not knowing what had happened to her friend.
«While I was lying there, it didn»t hurt. But lying for two hours in one position, you understand, is impossible, everything goes numb. And when I tried to move, hellish pain began. But scream or not scream… I endured. The main thing was that it was unclear whether the building would collapse further,« Maria recalled. »I was so scared when firefighters were walking above or started setting up ladders! You«re lying face down on the floor, on glass, ear to the floor, and it feels like the whole building is swaying, as if you»re being rocked.«
A Miracle Saved Her
Fortunately, both Maria and Tatyana had their hands free, as well as their pockets containing intact smartphones. First of all, both began to find out how bad their friend«s situation was, and only then started calling 112. Tatyana was crying. Maria tried to calm her through the pain — afraid that from sounds or an awkward movement the precarious balance in which the debris was held would be disrupted, and then both would be completely buried. And then she remained under the rubble alone.
«Of course, I can»t say how much time passed, but the rescuers arrived very quickly, everything happened in just minutes. They got me out right away, but Masha was farther away. I begged the rescuers until the last moment to get her out. I said there was another person there, that she was not far from me, showed the approximate direction to look for her,« Tatyana said. »They talked to her the whole time, both the rescuers and the shift chief, but they didn«t get her out immediately. It was harder to get her out because most of the [collapsed structures] fell on her.»
Tatyana was immediately examined by medics, and it turned out that the girl was literally saved by a miracle: she received only bruises and contusions. No fractures, no serious injuries — if, of course, one doesn«t count the horror she had to endure. She was even allowed to go home, to be treated as an outpatient.
«To be honest, I haven»t processed all this yet. It«s an emotional state when you»re still thinking and worrying about a close person who is near you. I haven«t slept since yesterday. Because as soon as I close my eyes, that collapsed ceiling is hanging over me again,» the girl shared.
«To Find and Save Sooner»
While Tatyana was being examined by doctors, Maria remained under the rubble. She felt vibrations from the rescuers« steps — whether imagined or real. To free her, Emergency Ministry employees needed a long two hours. And unlike her friend, she will return home very soon.
«I have an open fracture of the bone that goes from the thigh to the knee. Now I»m lying in the hospital on traction: they stretched my knee, hung a weight, and now I have to lie like this for two weeks, and then they will perform surgery and put in a plate,« the girl described her condition.
«After extrication, we evacuated the first woman using a three-section ladder. The second, attached to a spinal board, was carried into the loader»s bucket. In it, together with a rescuer from MASS, we lowered the rescued woman to the ground, securing her together just in case,« said Vyacheslav Tokarev, head of the firefighting and emergency rescue operations department of the regional Emergency Ministry headquarters. »There was a risk to the rescuers« lives: possible further collapse of structures, there were no railings on the roof, and the very slippery tiled floors in the frost and under snow threatened injuries from falls. None of us were hurt, but we thought only of one thing — to find and save all the people sooner.»
Irreparable Consequences
But the rescuers were unable to save everyone who remained under the rubble. If Maria and Tatyana are able to tell their terrifying but well-ending stories themselves, and the sales assistants probably managed to jump out of the collapsing building, then the cashier, 40-year-old Rustam Sh., was trapped. The man was buried first, and he was extracted from under the rubble last, already around half past eight in the evening, with no signs of life. Medics tried to resuscitate Rustam, but it was too late.
NGS attempted to contact his employer, the owner of the company Planeta Odezhda Obuv Sidikjon Bobodjonov, to find out if he had contacted the relatives of his deceased employee and whether he plans to provide them with any assistance, but the phone was turned off, and the email address was not current. The NGS editorial office is nevertheless ready to publish the entrepreneur«s comment if it is received.
On January 21, investigators from the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 238 of the Russian Criminal Code: provision of services that do not meet safety requirements, resulting in the death of a person. According to the preliminary version, the building«s structure could not withstand the snow accumulated on the flat roof.
The next morning, the owner of the mall was detained — Novosibirsk entrepreneur Sergey Turkov. It was he who built the two-story shopping mall without authorization and then legalized the structure through the courts.
Questions arose not only from people in uniform but also from the surviving victims. According to Maria N., her mother and a family friend are already looking for a lawyer who will represent the girl«s interests as a victim in the investigation and future trial. Tatyana B. also does not intend to refuse compensation for what she endured.
The financial damage from the shopping mall collapse remains to be calculated by investigators.
The NGS editorial office expresses condolences to the family and close ones of the deceased Rustam Sh.
On the day of the collapse, we monitored the dismantling of the building and the search for victims in real-time and collected everything known about the emergency on Naumova Street in one place.
