Police “thorn” was torn and enveloped the woman.
What is known about it.
“Mom is still shocked by what happened, but the police didn’t apologize to her. They didn’t even call her,” said a son of the woman, who was wrapped in barbed wire yesterday on Timiryazeva Street after it was completely broken by the traffic police motorcycles, to AUTO.TUT.BY. However, after the publication of the material, it became known that Strela’s leadership had apologized to the woman.
Eyewitness: “The bikes flew at least 100 km/h.”
13/09/2020 the security forces blocked the streets near the Zamok shopping: center Pobediteley Avenue and Timiryazeva Street were blocked for pedestrians and vehicles.
Minsk resident Dmitry was returning from a trip to his apartment on Pobediteley Avenue. Since traffic was blocked on Timiryazeva, the guy was forced to walk a segment of the way. Near the T-shaped intersection, next to Saperov Street, the pedestrian faced an obstacle: fighters stood across the roadway and sidewalk, barbed wire was stretched out.
The guy noted that there were about thirty people like him, who couldn’t pass. Dmitry said that they were mainly residents of the houses from the nearest streets, both young and old. The police officers did not let anyone in. Even a passport with a residence permit did not help. People were told to wait for the evening until everyone dispersed. At the same time, it was unrealistic to bypass the blocked area.
“Two motorcycles are racing at a speed of about 100 km/h. At first, I thoug/ht that they were somehow impudent — they drive at such a speed. They were BMW traffic police bikes. They drove that fast that they simply tore apart the barbed wire fence. This wire was dark in color and blended with the asphalt. Probably because of the high speed, the motorcyclists simply did not have time to react,” said Dmitry.
According to an eyewitness, the motorcyclists rammed the thorn, tore it, but the bikes did not fall. The wire broke and “shot” at the people who were standing nearby.
“One woman suffered greatly. Obviously, she was returning from the store: eggs and corn fell out and broke from a torn apart bag. The woman herself was literally covered with wire. She began to bleed, and it was obvious that she was in shock. She could not even speak, she turned off for a couple of seconds”.
There was an ambulance nearby, the doctors of which provided first aid to the victim. After that, she was taken to the hospital.
“Motorcycles of the traffic police stopped, the patrol car drove up to them. One of the motorcyclists drove up to the fighters’ commander to find out how the barrage was! People started shouting that he should at least have asked for forgiveness from the injured woman, but he just turned around and left.”
According to an eyewitness, the traffic police car also left the scene. The police officers did not question the witnesses, did not rewrite their data. Security officials in black uniforms helped to free the victim from the wire.
The victim’s son: “Mom is scared. There are no serious injuries.”
AUTO.TUT.BY contacted the injured 62-year-old woman from Minsk. However, the woman is now in a difficult morale condition and she refused to communicate with journalists. The son told about the incident from her words.
“Mom lives near the Zamok shopping center. She went shopping yesterday. Due to the blockage of roads in the city, it was really hard for her to get home. She had to take the bus 69 closer to the Timiryazeva station, and then went on foot,” the man said.
When the woman ran into a barbed-wire fence, she approached the police to find out how to get home. At that moment, the motorcycles drove into the “thorn.”
“The wire rolled in the direction of the pedestrians, to the place where my mother was standing. The youth jumped away, but my mother did not have time, the wire wrapped her and she fell down.”
Ambulance medics immediately assisted the victim. According to the man, the police insisted on hospitalization, as the woman was in shock.
“They brought her to the 6th hospital, put two stitches on the legs, took pictures. There are no serious injuries. There are still many scratches on the body. Now, mom is at home.”
According to the woman’s son, she refused to call the police in the hospital and did not file a complaint. Law enforcers also did not contact her.
Security officials: “We warned people that the carriageway was blocked.”
The internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus confirmed that there was an incident on Timiryazeva Street. It happened at about 5 pm.
“On Timiryazeva Street, traffic for vehicles and pedestrians was temporarily restricted. For this, Egoza engineering barriers were used (the barbed wire, twisted in a spiral. — Approx. AUTO.TUT.BY),” said Vladimir Parkhomtsev, head of the press service of the internal troops. ‘People were approaching the servicemen and asking about how they could get through. They got the explanations.”
According to the Internal Troops servicemen, some pedestrians were on the sidewalk, some were in the green zone and on the roadway. By the time the incident occurred, a pedestrian walkway had been set up near the railroad tracks on Timiryazeva and people were being guided in that direction.
“Two motorcycles of the traffic police appeared from the side of Saperov Street. They were driving towards the fence. The servicemen tried to warn them with signals and voice that the carriageway was blocked. Perhaps they did not understand the signs or didn’t have time to react, so the Egoza was hit. The wire caught on the motorcycles and stretched out in a wedge forward, at which point, probably, it hit a woman who was on the roadway.”
According to Porkhomtsev, when the motorcycles passed, the wire unhooked from the bikes, and it happened to be on top of the lying woman. The soldiers, together with civilians, freed her from the thorn. The doctors who were nearby provided first aid.
“The incident was immediately reported to the management via the radio station. It’s being discussed that measures will be applied to the visual designation of Egoza during usage in the future to make the obstacle being seen better”.
The Main Department of State Traffic Inspection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus said that when their employees drove up to a place where traffic was restricted, they saw a barrier. Still, they were no longer able to stop. As a result, they ran into a wire that broke. The traffic police stopped to remove the coiled wire from the wheels. One of the motorcyclists drove up to the employees of the internal troops for a tool to do this. After that, the motorized patrol continued to move.
“At that time, the motorcyclists did not know that the wire hit the woman when they caught it. Now this matter is being investigated, and all the circumstances of the incident are going to be established,” said Stanislav Solovey, the official representative of the State Traffic Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus.
P. S. After the publication of the material, it became known that the management of the joint venture of State Traffic Inspection “Strela” called the injured woman. The policemen explained the situation, apologized, and offered her help. The pensioner replied that she is alright and she has no complaints about the traffic police.
