Monday, Dec 11 2023

All Cities

Choose Your City

'Lake Baikal's ability to purify itself is down to an endemic microscopic shrimp called epischura baikalensis'

'Sacred Sea', Peter Thomson

Homeless man freezes to death steps away from cathedral in Vladivostok’s ice rain aftermath

By The Siberian Times reporter

22 November 2020

Elsewhere in Primorsky region 94,000 people are still without electricity, 18,000 are without heating.

The homeless man fell and was entombed in ice. Picture: Yury Ufimtsev

A 60-year-old man was found early on Friday in the yard of Pokrovsky Cathedral in the centre of Vladivostok.

Police confirmed there were no traces of violent death on his body; the man’s name was not reported. It is known he usually lived in the street close by.

The cathedral’s attendant confirmed he knew the man who tragically died in the aftermath of the ice rain that caused a state of emergency in Vladivostok and all around the region.

‘The body of the man was found by the entrance to the cathedral. He froze to death. He was a local homeless man, he even came inside a couple of times’, Yevgeny the cathedral caretaker told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper in Vladivostok.

‘As far as I know he took part in a rehabilitation programme, but then got back to old habits.

‘Sadly nearly every season we see such awful scenes… last year five people were found in the park after similar cyclones’, he said.

Homeless man freezes to death steps away from cathedral in Vladivostok’s ice rain aftermath

Homeless man freezes to death steps away from cathedral in Vladivostok’s ice rain aftermath
94,000 people are currently without power, while 18,000 people are reported to still have no heating. Pictures: Primorye government, VL.ru, Pyotr Maksimov

120,000 people in Russia’s Pacific capital Vladivostok and all around Primorsky region had to stay without electricity, heating and water at minus 1C following the ice rain.

A combination of heavy rain, strong winds, and suddenly freezing temperatures leads to ice encasing buildings, cars, power cables, and trees.

The homeless man fell and was entombed in ice.

The transport system in the city and in the region collapsed, too, with roads blocked by hundreds of fallen trees.

Homeless man freezes to death steps away from cathedral in Vladivostok’s ice rain aftermath

Army mobile kitchens with hot food seen around Vladivostok. Picture: Vecherny Khabarovsk

Flights and trains were delayed by the dozen, including the world famous Trans-Siberian rail service which connects Vladivostok to Moscow.

The Russky Bridge - the only transport link connecting Vladivostok to the Russky island had to be shut due to heavy icing on its cable stays.

A local man filmed the moment some of the ice melted and collapsed in an avalanche, damaging the concrete.

The government promised to organise a ferry service to deliver key provision to the island and to transport the people.

Homeless man freezes to death steps away from cathedral in Vladivostok’s ice rain aftermath

Homeless man freezes to death steps away from cathedral in Vladivostok’s ice rain aftermath
Ice rain aftermath in Vladivostok, the Far East of Russia. Pictures: Tatiana Soroka, Primorye police

Today the region’s government said that it will take three more days to repair electricity.

94,000 people are currently without power, while 18,000 people are reported to still have no heating.

Queues of people waiting to get hot food from army mobile kitchens were pictured in Vladivostok.

Local shops were offering free hot tea, business owners collaborated with restaurants to provide free hot meals.

Ice is melting & falling from cable stays on Russky Bridge, shut since this week's ice rain paralysed most of Vladivostok's transport system. Video: Serhio Mazeratti

Comments (11)

All comments
Best rated comments

Add comment

@Benedikt MORAK, Moscow. You are absolutely correct about the lack of empathy and human compassion here. You could lie dead in your flat for weeks with no one knowing or caring...I'm always shocked at the lack of emotions and moral and ethical code of conduct together with the Omerta (Law of Silence) in Switzerland too!!!

The Swiss of course were Hitler, Mussolini's and Franco's banks during the 2nd World War period, so it would be foolish of me as one of the million foreigners here to expect any kind of conscience or moral and ethical code of conduct from the then Swiss Government.Things are changing here thank goodness!!!

Journalists and PR experts all over the world research, investigate, report on and can even change mind sets in a country on often highly sensitive issues (like this one). Death threats are also common in Switzerland - hence my anonymity as a precaution...

Anonymous, Switzerland

29/11/2020 21:03

anonymous Switzerland. and how many -homeless- or -old- or -lonely - people are dying in Switzerland every year.homeless and forgotten. often found only weeks or YEARS after they has died a lonely death. in a building with neighbors around. with social security. and where one does not even know the neighbor next door... So schauts aus mein lieber Schweizer. noch zu feige unter dem eigenen Namen zu schreiben...

Benedikt MORAK, Moscow

27/11/2020 13:38

@Jaker, Dundalk "that he went back to his own ways" is not an excuse but the reason why he died. The Church is not to blame, and if your from Dundalk Ireland last time I was there it was full of unlooked after people

Alex, Sweden

25/11/2020 22:39

@Anonymous, Switzerland, What you said is so true, everyone does have a story. The sad thing is that help can be given but it must be taken. He was not abandoned by the church or anyone else who could help.

Alex, Sweden

25/11/2020 22:30

Anonymous from Switzerland. did you actually read the article? it did say nowhere that the caretaker was nearby and refused help. it did say nowhere that the doors were -locked - and the man could not come in. the caretaker did know the man.as the article said he came to the church on occasions and that he was known there... but on that day the caretaker would be like anyone else stay at home and not even stick his nose out of the window. read up first carefully and dont assume anything that is not right.

Benedikt MORAK, Russia

25/11/2020 21:45

It is sad that he passed away unnoticed in the night. There is no way to determine now if he seeked shelter. Facilities have been built for homeless in California, Oregon and Washington, but many homeless prefer to remain living in the parks and under bridges and on streets because their activities (alcohol, drug use, smoking, pets, etc,) are limited or prohibited within these special facilities. Weather isn't so much a factor in those states. There are many videos on this subject.

SteveC, Odessa, United States

25/11/2020 19:30

Saying, "that he went back to his own ways" is no excuse. Homeless are still always human beings & if the church can't have empathy with the homeless, who can? Never give up on a human being - should be the rule of thumb - 365 days of the year. Period.

May his soul rest in Peace.

Jaker, Dundalk

25/11/2020 10:27

@Alex Sweden Thank you for your answer. I understand that no one was to blame on that particular evening, that's clear.

I was simply making a broader more generalized statement in that he and all other poor homeless people, no matter what their background, should not be out there freezing and dying in the cold IN THE FIRST PLACE...

That's what I meant by heartless and inhumane. Restos Du Coeur or Abbe Pierre foundations, even our dear Pope ensure that homeless people have some sort of fixed shelter and meal. Because he was found in the church park it was just my question why no one helped from the church. No offence to anyone intended..

Anonymous, Switzerland

25/11/2020 01:30

@Anonymous, Switzerland. He fell in the middle of the night in the middle of a storm, the blame cannot be put on anyone, he was helped but he went back to his old ways. Its deeply sad he died but no one is to blame. Not the Church not the Church workers, its just what it was

Alex, Sweden

24/11/2020 18:27

Poor soul. RIP in a warm, caring and humane heaven. Disgusting and heartless that even the church turn a blind eye to homeless people's suffering, letting them die on their doorstep...

Why did the church caretaker not help him, or let him inside to obtain some warmth and human compassion??? I thought the church's role in society is to help others, not just themselves!

Anonymous, Switzerland

24/11/2020 01:21

Sad that he died, everyone has a story, but most storys we never hear

Alex, Sweden

22/11/2020 22:41