Ryazan Settlement Enters 'Iceberg' of Russia's Scariest Places

The Ryazan settlement Kursha-2 has been included in the «iceberg» of Russia«s most terrifying places. The video appeared on the »Netcore« channel three months ago and has since garnered 1.3 million views and over two thousand comments.

The now non-existent settlement Kursha-2 was included in the «iceberg» due to a tragedy in the summer of 1936 — almost 90 years ago. A fire broke out in the area of the village of Charus and spread actively due to the wind. On the night of August 3, the fire reached Kursha-2, where a train from different train cars had arrived.

«The team knew about the approaching fire and suggested saving at least women and children, but the dispatcher preferred to save the prepared timber. The loading work continued until the flames arrived. People were placed on top of the logs. When the train approached the bridge over a small canal three kilometers north of Kursha-2, the wooden bridge was already burning,» the video says.

From the bridge, the logs on the train cars caught fire, and the flames engulfed the entire train, including the passengers. According to eyewitnesses, over a thousand people died — almost the entire population of Kursha-2. Only dozens of Ryazan residents survived.

«Most of the survivors did not board the train but remained in Kursha, where they hid from the fire in wells, cesspits, and a pond,» the author recounts.

To assess the scale of the tragedy, the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, Mikhail Kalinin, came to the Ryazan region. At a meeting of officials two weeks later, they officially announced 313 dead and 75 injured with burns.

Soon after the fire, the settlement was restored, but after the war, people were evicted, and no one has lived in Kursha-2 since. In 2011, a memorial complex with a worship cross was created at the site of the tragedy.