Witnesses Film Drowning Man's Final Moments Near Volgograd

The final moments of a 41-year-old man, who drowned in the Volgograd backwater on Epiphany night, were captured on video. The man«s death was witnessed by a man and a woman who filmed on a phone as the unfortunate man tried to clamber out of the icy water and begged for help. His body was retrieved from the river by rescuers on 19 January.

The video was filmed at night and, apparently, near a landing stage moored in the Volgograd backwater between the hamlet of Bobry and Krasnoslobodsk. There, the 41-year-old man fell through the ice on the night of 18-19 January while attempting to perform the ritual immersion. The video captures the cries of the drowning man and the calm conversation of the two witnesses.

Drowning man: Help!

Witness 1: Do you see him in the camera?

Witness 2: Can you see him? I can«t.

Drowning man: Help!

Witness 2: A person in a hood is running! Hold on for a minute.

Drowning man: Please, I«m drowning!

Witness 2: What the hell, where is he?

Drowning man: Help! He went under the ice...

Witness 1: And where«s the voice coming from if he went under the ice?

Drowning man: ...throw me a rope, do something, help!

Witness 2: You can«t see him... Where is he? There he is! I see him.

Drowning man: Help!

Witness 2: Oh my god... There, do you see? There he is.

Drowning man: Help, is anyone here? Call someone!

Witness 1: Just a second!

Witness 2: What should we do?

Witness 1: Hold on, a dude is coming to you.

Witness 2: Maybe we should call?...

The video cuts off at this point.

As a reminder, V1.RU«s correspondent was told by Yevgeny Vystropov, head of the Investigative Committee»s department for the Sredneakhtubinsky district of Volgograd Region, that the man decided to perform the immersion after midnight.

«According to preliminary information, he went to bathe on Epiphany night in an unapproved ice hole. The man went onto the ice alone: after midnight, park security guards heard his cries but could not save him—when they ran to the spot, he had already gone under the water,» said Yevgeny Vystropov. «He had no documents on him. His identity was established through personal belongings: a phone, a bank card, and a notebook. An orange bag with belongings was left on the ice, which also helped in identifying the drowned man. His friends also arrived at the scene after discovering the man was not answering his phone. The deceased lived alone: he is divorced and has an adult child and parents. There is no criminal aspect to this case, just thin ice.»