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'That time Barnaul was undoubtedly the most cultural corner of Siberia. I named it Siberian Athens'
Pyotr Tyan-Shanskiy, 1856

Miracle as boy, 3, survives by walking alone across taiga at -30C after seeing his father die on snowmobile

By The Siberian Times reporter
24 December 2018

Businessman Yevgeny Vlasov, 53, fell through ice hole but in last words shouted to son to walk to the family’s village store.

Father and son went by snowmobile to inspect an ice hole for a future fishing trip. Stock picture

The boy - unnamed so far - obediently followed his father’s final command. 

Vlasov had picked up the child from kindergarten before they went by snowmobile to inspect an ice hole for a future fishing trip. 

Vlasov made the boy wait on the bank of the frozen Gur River while he turned the snowmobile - but the ice did not hold.

The man and his snowmobile crashed through the ice sank into the raging mountain waters. 

Vlasov shouted in his final words: ‘Son, run to the store!’

The boy followed the tracks of his father’s snowmobile back towards the village of Kenay in Khabarovsk region.  

Yevgeny Vlasov


Yevgeny Vlasov


Yevgeny and Maria Vlasov

Yevgeny Vlasov and his wife Maria.

But it was not an easy task. 

He had to climb a 300 metre hill - in fierce cold. 

Head of the village administration Yury Anekhov said: ‘The child saw his father sinking. 

‘The boy later told me that his father shouted to him: 'Son, run to the store!'. 

‘They have their own store in the village, and Yevgeny told him to go there. 

‘The boy climbed a hillock, and then came down from it - its height is about 300 metres (985 ft). 

‘Then he walked through the taiga.’

On his way he lost the track in the gloom. 

By mistake he took a wrong turn. 

But he was lucky. 

Gur River


Gur River


Gur River

Vlasov made the boy wait on the bank of the frozen Gur River.

A villager driving nearby saw the tiny figure trudging through the snow. 

The man said: ‘He doesn’t speak too well yet - he’s too young - so he couldn’t tell me what happened. 

‘I just understood that it was something really bad, and rushed to the village to find his family.’

The man said: ‘The little one was so smart.

'He had figured that the way back home was to follow the traces of his dad’s snowmobile.’

He reunited the boy with his mother Maria. 

A day later the child succumbed to a ‘very strong fever’ but is otherwise not physically harmed from the traumatic experience.

Vlasov was a successful local businessman owning a chain of shops. 

Local police chief Alexander Kolomytsev said that the chances of finding the body were slight. 

It was a ‘fast mountain river’ and was impossible to use divers in the search.

Comments (10)

How sad the little one had to witness this tragedy, his Dad will be missed. I hope his Mum with time, can help this little one in the understanding that life, can be very cruel. I wish the best possible future. Chin up.
Dan Girvan, NB Canada
20/01/2019 01:41
0
0
How sad the little one had to witness this tragedy, his Dad will be missed. I hope his Mum with time, can help this little one in the understanding that life, can be very cruel. I wish the best possible future. Chin up.
Dan Girvan, NB Canada
20/01/2019 01:37
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0
Prayers to the child and to his family. May they live in happier times. A Brave Child indeed!
Pearl, Australia
04/01/2019 11:52
2
1
Είθε ο Ιησούς Χριστός να προστατεύει την οικογένεια του θανόντος κι αυτόν να τον αναπαύσει μετά των αγίων.
Ιωάννης Καραγιώργης, Ελλάδα
31/12/2018 05:26
0
0
Why is your name Anare? Never heard of that. Are you really from Taiwan? By the way, I'll pray to God to help bring him back to life. Makes me want to cry for this good son who has managed to survive in such a cold weather.
Zhang Yong Jie, Singapore
27/12/2018 09:13
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0
Such a sad story. I hope the stress of this trauma will not permantly harm this prescious child. So glad he was returned to his mother. My good thoughts are sent that they may both be able to cope with this tradegy and go on with a life that would make the dad/husband proud of them. It will take courage to do it but there is no other choice now. Best wishes to you both to make this happen!
Patricia Gothard, Laguna Woods CA United States
26/12/2018 11:00
4
2
Some years ago we had three First Nation children escape from a residential school in mid winter. They followed the railway towards their village. They came to a spot and recognized a frozen lake and started across it towards their village. They were lightly dressed and half way across froze to death.On Jan. 2, 1937, four boys — two aged seven, and an eight-and-nine-year-old — were found dead, their bodies frozen trying to cross Fraser Lake in northern B.C. after running away from the nearby Lejac Residential School. Its so sad about the Vlasov boy's loss of his father.
Vuki, Kamloops Canada
25/12/2018 20:10
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A deep feeling of sadness about the death of the father. Something good and powerful was protecting that child
Alex, sweden
25/12/2018 16:10
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Feel sorry for both of father n son. Especially the son.
Anare , Taiwan
25/12/2018 10:43
5
0
Sad for his father, happy for the son. Life goes on.
Botak , Kazakhstan
24/12/2018 18:57
10
0
1

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