As a neighbor to a neighbor: residents of Makhachkala massively help victims of the explosion

What happened at the site of the explosion and fire

Less than two hours after the explosion of ammonium nitrate and a fire at the Nafta-24 gas station next to the warehouse in Makhachkala, a queue of those wishing to donate blood and help the victims lined up at the blood donation point. All night long, people in the republic followed the events at the scene of the tragedy: at 10 pm, the first reports of explosions came, half an hour later — about the first victims. Further, information about the dead and injured was transmitted continuously: 20, 50, 66, 102 people were injured. Three, five, 12, 27, three more were killed…

After hearing the first explosions, people from neighboring houses ran to the flaming car service station. They tried to put out the fire themselves, but their strength was clearly insufficient. The fire spread to the gas station, and then to cars and a bus with children standing nearby. Contrary to media reports, it was not the onlookers who suffered, about whom everyone wrote, but those who extinguished the fire with their bare hands. Everything developed so quickly that the inexperienced volunteer rescuers themselves were burned.

The news of the fire spread very quickly on social networks. The doctor of the blood transfusion station said that residents from all over the city came to the scene of the fire and brought bandages, saline, hydrogen peroxide for the victims.

People were not only burned, but also suffered from the explosion. It was scary to look at people with burns, but someone's knees were crushed by the explosion, someone even lost a leg. In total, more than 100 people were injured.

There was enough blood

Despite the fact that the blood transfusion center had enough supplies of blood and canned food, residents of Makhachkala came and offered to donate blood.

«Of course, we are grateful to them for reacting so quickly. But it was a little too much. It was impossible to drive down the street: there were a lot of cars parked there. But all the same, our people are well done, » the doctor of the center told the publication.

400 people became voluntary donors overnight. They were told that they would have to wait, because everyone had to be checked for diseases, but people waited patiently. There were so many cars parked around the center that it was impossible to get through. Then the doctors posted information on blood groups on the windows of the center: if there was a sheet of green paper hanging under the blood group, then there was enough such blood, yellow — there is a need, red — there is not enough blood. By morning, there were green signs under each blood group

Volunteers helped the next day

In the morning, the crowd at the blood transfusion center began to be slowly organized by volunteers. There were so many willing to help that the volunteer assistants created a new group. 621 people joined it. Only 50 people worked at the site of the explosions. They took upon themselves the mournful duty to help the relatives of the victims.

The road where the gas station was located led to the beach, and the traffic jam stretched here for 5 km. It was also regulated by volunteers together with the police. The next day in Makhachkala there was a terrible heat, there was not enough water. Residents brought food and water to everyone who worked at the scene of the tragedy and cleared the rubble.

Who is to blame for the disaster

The opinions of the residents of the republic were divided. Many people believe that the head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, does not solve the problem. Blackouts of light and water both in the capital and in the districts are a common thing. Garbage is not taken out, construction permits, including gas stations, are given it is unclear how…

«What can he do so heroic at this moment of time? That's right, the whole of nothing. Earlier it was necessary to think, especially to do» — this opinion was expressed by a woman who arrived at the scene of the explosion.

The explosion and fire at the gas station is not the first. In 2014, there was already a fire at another gas station in Makhachkala. But no conclusions were drawn, and permits for the construction of car services and gas stations were given with violations, people complain.

After the Prosecutor General of Russia Krasnov named the culprits — the owners of the car service, voices were heard in support of the republican authorities. But people hope that the authorities will really check not only those who stored ammonium nitrate dangerously close to the service station and gas station, but also the officials who issued the construction permit. In the republic, they are sure that there was no corruption here.

The original material is available at this link.