People believed that the plane did not crash [photo, video]
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Flight 7K9268. Remember. We mourn.Anatoly ZAYONCHKOVSKY
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Relatives and friends of those who died in the terrible plane crash on the Sinai Peninsula paced the long corridor of the Crown Plaza Hotel. Seventy steps one way, seventy the other. A call on a mobile phone in the hope of hearing a native voice. But in response, only "Subscriber is not available" in Arabic. Phones were discharged, they were immediately plugged into the outlet. And again, seventy steps back and forth, a call ...
HEAR THOUGHTS
The plane Sharm el-Sheikh-Petersburg disappeared from the radar at 7.41. However, the first information about a possible crash appeared only after eleven in the morning. At this time, many relatives were already on their way to the airport to meet their families, friends - friends. The plane was supposed to land at Pulkovo at 12.10. On the scoreboard, the landing time was initially postponed by an hour and a half. And then the information disappeared. Emergency services began to arrive at the airport. Psychologists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations ran in. They were looking for relatives. It smelled of valerian, corvalol. The usually buzzing arrivals hall was filled with deathly silence. It seemed like you could hear the thoughts. Petersburg already knew about the catastrophe in the Sinai Peninsula.
To the left of the airport, buses of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were waiting for relatives. People were transported to the Crown Plaza Hotel, which is located one kilometer from Pulkovo. An emergency headquarters was set up there.
For relatives and friends, a separate room was allocated on the ground floor. They offered tea and coffee, but almost no one approached the vending machines. Everyone waited with hope for reports of survivors. They stubbornly flipped through news feeds on the Internet, listened to what journalists were saying.
Psychologists worked in the hall. Specialists who have experience in working in emergency situations arrived to help the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
At first, you need to listen to people, just sit next to you, hold your hand, - volunteer psychologist Natalia Kravchenko explained to Komsomolskaya Pravda. “This is the biggest help you can get. Do not let family and friends be left alone with their grief.
But many refused to communicate with psychologists. We tried to cope on our own. And most importantly, no one believed what happened.
No need to bury our relatives, nothing is known yet! - the tear-stained girl screamed almost aloud, in the accident she lost her mother.
Do you know who survived? - Relatives asked the journalists hopefully. “Give them their names, you know…”
People clutched at information about the rescued passengers of flight K9268 like a straw. They believed in their hearts that it was their relatives.
Daughter! a woman sobbed in the street. - I have one. There is no one else. How will I live?
At six in the morning, the daughter sent an SMS to her mother: “I'm flying out. I will soon." And then only: "The subscriber is not available."
BAD DREAM
A medical center was set up on the ground floor. Five doctors were constantly on duty there. The necessary equipment for emergency care, about ten large bags of medicines, were brought into a small room that had previously served as a wardrobe. But for a long time no one asked for help. For the first hours, relatives and friends really believed in miracles of salvation. People sometimes went outside. Smoked. They were silent. Someone was crying.
The sun is red today, - somehow casually noticed the details of the landscape. - Sinister.
Suddenly the silence was broken by a woman in a black jacket. She quickly ran out of the hall, rushed through the crowd of journalists, jumped out into the street, hugged the pole and shouted into the sky: “Mom!”. Behind her, quickly rearranging her little legs, a girl in a pink jacket minced. She clung to the woman, as if explaining: "Mommy, I'm here, I'm nearby, don't cry." I was afraid to speak. I just hugged. Doctors were already running to help. They took the woman aside, offered a sedative, and then took her to the first-aid post.
This cry of despair: "Mom!", as if brought everyone back to reality. The men who lost their entire family in the crash burst into tears as if on cue. They couldn't contain their grief anymore.
That night I slept very badly, I was very worried about my wife, - the husband of one of the crashed passengers, Nail, told Komsomolskaya Pravda. “I dreamed that she was broken. Left without legs.
Nail woke up, but then a text message came from his wife: “Let's go for a landing! Kisses!". The man tried to chase away the nightmare. But he kept coming back.
The wife stayed to rest in Egypt, and the daughter and granddaughter returned to St. Petersburg a few days earlier, - Nail told the story of the miraculous rescue.
The Sologubov family was not lucky. Husband, wife and daughter with a girlfriend were vacationing in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh together.
Daughter Zhenya flew to Egypt five or six times already, she really liked the country, - Alexander Sologubov told Komsomolskaya Pravda. But this time, for some reason, she wanted to go home. She didn't like everything.
Alexander and his wife ended their tour earlier, and they flew home. And Zhenya and her friend Olya stayed for a few more days. On Saturday Alexander went to the airport to meet his daughter. At Pulkovo, he was informed of a possible disaster.
You know, my wife and I had no premonitions, - Alexander Sologubov admitted.
Evgenia worked in a kindergarten as a teacher. I dreamed of a family, of children. But flight K9268 became fatal for her and her friend.
IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURE
Investigators began collecting genetics from relatives of the victims. The procedure is simple, but before that it was necessary to fill out several sheets of the questionnaire. After that, people were sent to a small office on the first floor of the hotel, where laboratory assistants worked. Teams of doctors and psychologists were on duty nearby. There was no line at the door. The procedure took several hours. Many did not quite understand who exactly should hand over the material for identification.
There was a wife on the plane, - the man tried to explain.
This means that material is needed from her close relative, the investigators said.
I am her husband ... - the man answered dully.
We need a mother, grandmother, father, - they patiently explained to him.
Yes, there is a mother, Natalya.
So, she must pass the genetics.
The investigators occupied several sofas in the hall: they collected documents, accepted signed envelopes with test tubes, recorded everything and put it in boxes. Very often the papers were presented not by the relatives themselves, but by one of the close friends. The collected materials were planned to be transferred to the Egyptian side for the identification procedure. All papers must be transported by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which will be taken to the crash site by St. Petersburg rescuers and relatives of the victims. According to the schedule, it was at 20.00 Saturday. However, the departure time was constantly delayed. The lists of those who will go to the Sinai Peninsula were updated.
On the second floor, in a small cafe, investigators worked with relatives to fill out questionnaires. During this routine work, people for a moment forgot about their grief. But when they went out into the street, it was clear that many of their legs gave way. Women and men did not hide tear-stained eyes. They silently watched the sunset. The sky over the Pulkovo runway turned red. And against its background, planes continued to take off and land ...
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Larisa, what day was the most difficult - the first, when the relatives of the victims learned about the crash of the liner, the second, when the identification began, or now?
It is impossible to say which day was the most difficult. Every day he demanded some special strength from his relatives. The first day is the day of shock. People only found out that the plane had crashed, that their loved ones were somewhere out there, in the desert, they were looking for them ... But they still had a glimmer of hope: what if someone survived? Therefore, in the first hours - and even in the first day - people were in a state of shock and denial. They didn't believe what happened. On the one hand, they were aware of the very fact of what had happened, but the fact that it affected them, that their lives had changed, their relatives had died - at first there was no awareness of the tragedy. They could not even admit such a thought to themselves. People became scared, but their psyche worked like this: suddenly everything will be fine, suddenly nothing happened, and this is some kind of mistake, suddenly someone misunderstood everything ...
When does awareness come?
As a rule, awareness comes in the process of identifying the dead, when people see their loved ones dead. And when the identification procedure began in St. Petersburg, we were required to have a different approach to people than on the first day. When relatives were preparing to go for identification, when they came to the morgue, recognized or did not recognize their loved ones, they were covered with various acute reactions. With awareness came the pain of loss, fear, misunderstanding of how to live on. Then there were tears, hysteria, aggression. At this moment, it is important to be close to the person. Give him a chance to talk, to cry. Everyone at this stage had one question: “How could this happen?! Why?!" They asked these questions not to us, but to themselves, to the world.
- Aggression also splashed out on you?
We are not afraid of aggression. If a person is aggressive, it means that he has strength. And if there is strength, it means that he will be able to survive grief. And the question is: “For what?!” - normal. We are always in illusions. We understand with the mind that we are not eternal and we can die at any moment, but we live as if we will live forever. And loved ones will always be with us.
- Did you have answers to these questions?
We did not answer why it happened and for what. We talked to people about the dead. About how they lived. When you listen to a person, he starts talking. And when he speaks, he breaks out the pain of the soul. He remembers happy moments. When they ask me: “What do you say to them, how do you comfort them?” - I answer: “They cannot be consoled, because a person is consoled when time passes, he will survive the grief of loss, find the meaning of life and learn to live in a new way.” In the first minutes, he experiences only fear and horror. And at this moment it is important to talk about the person who left, whom they lost. It's amazing, but as many words of love as I heard in the morgue, I have not heard anywhere and never.
- Does it happen that a person withdraws into himself in an acute period?
When we see such people, we go to them in the first place. A person who is crying, hysterical, may look frightening from the outside, but we understand that a person reacts, and this is good. He realized his pain, he understands everything - it means that he will be able to live on. If a person is silent, we do not know what is happening inside him. Perhaps he is still in deep denial, does not want to believe in it. Until he speaks, it seems to him: what if everything will still be fine? .. Or it hurts and feels so bad that he can’t talk about it at all. We are trying to get these people to talk. What if we're not around? He will go home alone or to a hotel room, close - and no one knows what will happen to him next. He may begin to sob, or he may want to end his life.
- Are you trying to talk with the relatives of the dead on abstract topics?
This is one of the illusions that at such moments a person needs to be distracted. We must treat human grief with great respect - this is the first thing we must remember. It's dangerous to be obsessive. We must understand that sometimes a person wants to be alone and think. When my friend’s only daughter died, she said: “I didn’t want to talk about anything at first, I wanted to think, talk to her mentally, but not out loud.” Therefore, when we sat down with a relative of the deceased, we felt we had to say something or just sit next to him.
- Who is experiencing the tragedy harder: the elderly, the young, women, men?
Everything is individual. The external manifestation of grief is not always evidence of the strength of the experience. Adults who have lost children are one tragedy. It is difficult for an elderly person to find the meaning of later life. They lived for the sake of their children and grandchildren. And when the children-grandchildren die, they must learn to live by the memory of them. In such cases, we say: “What else do you think you can do that your children did not have time to do? Maybe they wanted to go somewhere, help someone, maybe you can do it for them, in memory of them?..”
A huge tragedy when a young husband loses his wife or wife-husband. Relations at the peak, it seemed, ahead of the whole life, happiness, but his time - and no. Here is your grief.
An irreparable loss if a family loses a small child. Here is another story. They often ask: maybe we should give birth to another one quickly to drown out the pain? We discourage this step. We must give ourselves time to grieve, to endure the pain, to say goodbye to the child who left, and to keep a bright memory of him. Do you know what a blessed memory is? When you remember a departed person with joy that he was in your life. When such a memory comes, then a person has learned to live in the world without the one who left. That's when you can already think about whether to give birth to more children or not. In an acute period of grief, one should not strive to leave somewhere, because you will not leave yourself. A year and a half you can not make any important decisions in your life.
- Among the relatives of the dead, there are many who could not find their loved one. How are they experiencing this situation?
This is one of the most difficult moments - when the fate of the deceased person is unknown. It is also difficult for those who found their loved one to recognize the body, but for them this stage is over. It is much worse for someone who stopped at the waiting stage. Intellectually, people understand that there are no survivors of a plane crash. But until they see the body, it is impossible for them to come to terms with this thought. It is very important that during this period someone was next to them. Therefore, these people will continue to be monitored by our psychologists at their place of residence, we leave all contacts.
During the identification, there were situations when, according to the description, the deceased fits the surname, but his relatives do not recognize him? Why did this happen?
I myself worked for two days with forensic experts to identify the bodies. I noticed such a thing that all the dead people, even if they are not badly damaged, do not look like living ones. They all imperceptibly something similar to each other. We searched for people by photographs, by descriptions ... Our task was to find those who most closely matched the description, and even then we showed the bodies to relatives. And often it was very difficult to understand whether the person was right or not. And relatives also stood, looked and did not understand. There were several situations when relatives look at the body and say: “I don’t understand, it’s like he and not him. I do not understand. Can not understand". First they say: "Yes, he looks like." Leaves. Later they call: “No, what if it’s not him?” Or at first, denial works: “Definitely not him.” They leave. The night passes. Call in the morning: “Can I see more? But what if…"
I remember how, after a tragedy not related to this plane crash, one family came three times to identify the girl. The deceased was not injured, but her relatives could not identify her. Mom, fiance, dad, when they first looked at her, then in one voice: "She." We left the morgue. And suddenly my mother turns to me: “What if it’s not her? ..” I look at the others - and some absolutely crazy hope appears in everyone’s eyes. You won't see eyes like that anywhere. Everyone looks at me. We returned back. I ask: "Are there any other signs?" They answer: "A strazik in the tooth." We look - there is a strazik. "She," they nod. "Sure?" - "That's right." They left. At the door, my mother turned around again: “What if it’s not her? She also has a tattoo. Let's see again." Have returned. Looked. Tattoo in place. "She is". Only for the door. And again: “What if it’s not her? ..”
It is difficult for people to admit that yesterday a person was alive, but today he is no more. Of course, DNA testing is required in this case. DNA material was taken from everyone, even from those who were given the bodies. It was extremely rare that reburials happened before, when they buried not their own. Therefore, the results of the examination are important.
- Does the visual examination end on Thursday?
- How did people have the strength to describe a relative?
This is also one of our stages of work. First, our specialists psychologically prepare people for what they have to do in this situation. Also, together with the relatives of the deceased, we are involved in compiling a description of the signs of the deceased, which helps to further facilitate and speed up the procedure for identifying the bodies. We accompany the identification procedure, trying to make this procedure the least traumatic for people who have lost relatives.
- What questions did you ask?
We ask specific questions. If a person could not describe, we drew. In this case, it is necessary to have your own rich vocabulary in order to give people the opportunity to choose from the description. When we asked leading questions, people were better oriented.
Was it psychologically difficult for people to describe?
On the one hand, this is a difficult moment, but on the other hand, it brings a person to the realization of what happened. I remember after one catastrophe I had to describe his father with one young man. He told me: “Well, how can I describe his face? ..” I led him to the portraits of people: “Choose who you look like?” The guy came to his senses and began to talk. This procedure may seem cruel, but it also helps to slowly come to the realization of what happened.
- How many psychologists worked in St. Petersburg?
46 psychologists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and 10 psychologists of the Republic of Emergency Situations. They worked around the clock.
For 4 days you have become close to the families of the victims, learned their stories. Will you continue your communication later? Or worked, period?
This is a very important question. Every specialist faces this moment. In situations like this, we really bond with families. Grief brings people together. A person at the moment of tragedy becomes defenseless, vulnerable, but at the same time very sensitive, receptive. And if trust and rapprochement arise between the psychologist and the relative of the deceased, then there is a feeling that this person is very close and dear to you. I really want to know how his future fate turned out. Often, relatives ask for our phone number, invite them to visit, ask to meet. We never leave our personal phone numbers, we never take their addresses and we never promise them anything, we never come to visit. Because we were next to them at the moment of the highest grief. Then they will build their lives, learn to live again, and if we reappear in their lives, we will return them back to where it was hard for them. Therefore, neither rescuers nor psychologists ever meet or maintain relationships with those who were once rescued. We do not return people to places where they felt bad.
40 days have passed since the death of 224 people in the A321 crash over the Sinai Peninsula. Psychologists say that for the relatives of the dead, this is the very starting point, after which there comes a period of full realization that loved ones can no longer be returned. And you have to learn to live with it again.
“When we learned that a Russian airliner had crashed in Egypt, flashes of our tragedy, which occurred in 2006, when the plane crashed near Donetsk, flashed through my head as if by a click. Turned on the TV. And there the operator's cameras snatch out the faces of people at the airport, their eyes, then still full of hope. What if… We watched and remembered. His first minutes of life after the tragedy, hours, days, months ... ". This is how people who lost their loved ones in a plane crash that occurred 9 years ago describe their emotions. It was they who extended a helping hand to those who needed support all these 40 days.
What do people who have lost relatives in plane crashes experience, how soon the pain will subside, who will not be able to cope with the loss of a loved one - in this material.
For 40 days we kept in touch with the relatives of those killed in the attack.
Some were willing to make contact. Others kept the pain to themselves, politely refusing any conversation. Still others seem to have completely closed themselves in a shell and did not let extra people into their misfortune.
But the pain of loss did not let go of anyone.
Those who managed to quickly identify their loved ones and bury them exhaled.
But most of the bodies were not amenable to visual identification. The relatives of these victims had to wait for the results of the DNA examination. 
- At first we were told that DNA examinations would last a week. Then the deadline was extended to 2 weeks, and then there was silence, - say those who did not wait for the October 31 flight from Sharm el-Sheikh. No one called us, no one informed us about anything. Out of desperation, we knocked on the thresholds of the morgue, asking to see the bodies of the dead again. Watched. Didn't recognize. They left. The next day, as for work, they came again. We had the phone of the investigator. One for all. At some point they stopped picking up the phone. If someone managed to get through, they heard: "Call back later." They cut off the hotline. Nerves were on edge. We were going to go to a rally to the Investigative Committee to give us the bodies of relatives. It was scary that we would not have time to bury our loved ones before 40 days.
We did. But not all.
The results of the DNA examination were released to relatives of the victims last week. In order of general order. The first on the list were Petersburgers. Then - the inhabitants of the regions.
- If people knew that the body of their relatives would be given on December 8, then they agreed in advance with the cemetery about the funeral on the 9th, - the victims say. - No one wanted to bury their own after 40 days. Everyone hoped ... But we don’t know how to live after 40 days. They say it will get easier in a year. This is true?..
“The passage of visual identification in the morgue caused serious psychological trauma to many”
Interrupted Flight is a regional charitable public organization providing assistance to victims of air crashes. It was created by relatives of those who died in a plane crash that happened in 2006. Then, near Donetsk, the Anapa-Petersburg plane crashed. 
Alexey Steinvarg
Aleksey and Marina Steinvarg lost their two daughters and Marina's parents that day.
Now the family has three children, the youngest is 4 years old.
“Live is possible. Only at first it will be very difficult,” the couple say.
Why continue to live - they did not understand for a long time. Until you decide to help others.
- Do you know why we undertook to help people who lost loved ones in plane crashes? Because they realized that only those who once found themselves in the same situation can help others survive such a tragedy. When our catastrophe happened, we did not understand what to do, where to run. At some point, we had problems with compensation, we had to fight, to sue. It was not possible to cope with the problems that had piled up alone. And then we united, created an organization, formalized it legally.
- Have you also encountered problems with the issuance of compensation?
- Almost all the compensations were issued by the courts.
- Now the relatives of the victims should be given 2 million rubles for each victim. What amounts were promised to you?
- In 2006, our compensation was 12 thousand rubles - this amount was prescribed in the Air Code. And only at the end of 2006, after all our trials, endless letters, complaints, the Air Code was significantly changed. We can assume that thanks to us, now compensation to the families of the victims is 2 million rubles.
- In the end, did you get 2 million rubles each?
- We have not even received a million.
- How much did they pay you besides 12 thousand rubles?
- The airline paid us 300 thousand rubles. We received 100,000 from the federal government, 100 from the city.
- Is this what you managed to knock out in court?
- The courts dealt only with compensation for non-pecuniary damage. There were also separate courts that dealt with insurance. But all the courts refused us insurance payments.
How long were your trials?
- Courts with insurance lasted for three years. We fought for moral compensation for a year.
- The relatives of the victims of the terrorist act over the Sinai Peninsula also had serious problems with the payment of compensation. Apparently, not everyone will receive 2 million.
We all live and understand that death is inevitable. We are mentally prepared for this. This is the natural course of life. But when the system fails - catastrophes, terrorist attacks, children die - a person cannot prepare for such a sudden development of events. Nobody is insured. Hence situations arise - they did not have time to register a marriage, register children, formalize an inheritance, leave a will. A person is so arranged that he does not back up his every step with paper. Nobody just comes up with it. Therefore, now those who lost loved ones in the terrorist attack have a decent problem. They will take a long time to destroy. Including in court.
- Did you manage to unite all the families of those killed in the plane crash over Donetsk?
- There are those who do not want to remember this at all, stir up the past, respectively, do not want to contact us. This is their right. For example, we have absolutely no information about several families. Where they are, what happens to them, how they live - we have not been able to find out. They did not leave any information about themselves. People closed themselves from this tragedy. But most families communicate with each other to some extent. Someone once a year, someone once a week, in different ways.
- In 2010, you opened a psychological assistance center?
- 4 years after our tragedy, the relatives of the victims continued to beat the thresholds of the courts, many could not come to their senses - they needed special psychological help. Therefore, there was a need for such a center. Our psychologists help those who have lost loved ones in a disaster. After the tragedy happened in Egypt, many of “ours” also needed the help of specialists. The fact is that we perceive any catastrophe associated with the crash of the liner as our own. Here the A-321 fell, and our history flashed before our eyes in an instant. For us, this is another blow. Deja vu. We seemed to be living it all over again. We looked at the people who arrived at Pulkovo in the first hours after the tragedy, then saw the identification procedures, searches, expectations, the results of the examination, the funeral, 40 days ... We read the stories of the dead. And then our destinies popped up in memory. Even though it's been 9 years. We remembered everything, as if we were transported into the past, as if this is happening to us now. Memory is selective. The most terrible moments of life she did not throw out of her head. Remember, this happens to everyone who has lost loved ones in a disaster.
- Do you communicate with those people who were affected by the terrorist attack over the Sinai Peninsula?
- We communicate, we try to help them.
- Do you explain to them that time heals?- Even then, in 2006, my wife and I clearly understood: time does not heal. Treating children and caring for other people.
- After the crash of the A-321, scammers became more active in social networks. There were incomprehensible funds to raise funds.
- Initially, unfortunately, there were no settlement accounts to raise funds to help the victims for this flight. It is understandable that people were confused. Although hundreds of people were ready to financially support the relatives of the victims. That's when scammers began to appear on social networks, who tried to cash in on the grief of others. We and other caring people contacted the administration of social networks, asking them to close dubious pages.
Where can the money raised go?
- I can tell where the funds we collected 9 years ago went. The money was spent on the construction and maintenance of a memorial in Donetsk and a chapel. Until recently, we supported the condition of our memorial, its maintenance and care was on the shoulders of our public organization. The state cannot give what our organization gives. But now relations with Ukraine have deteriorated. It is now impossible to get to the memorial in Sukha Balka, Donetsk region. Already on the 9th anniversary, we could not get to the crash site. We also spent money on common causes, gradually, wisely.
- Alexei, have the people who survived the plane crash in 2006 already returned to normal life?
- Everyone's life is different. Among us there are those who have not been able to cope with grief, to recover from the tragedy. Born children, who appeared to some after the disaster, help to survive this. Our life after the disaster has changed a lot. And consciousness turned upside down after 40 days. From that moment began the starting point of a new life.
- Did the DNA examination of the remains of the victims of the terrorist attack last almost a month? In your situation, have you also been waiting for results for a long time?
- Fully DNA examination for our relatives ended in 50 days. We received the results on the 35th day. Buried on the 40th. The process of waiting for the examination is one of the most difficult moments of the tragedy. Every day we called the investigating authorities, tormented them with questions, tried to find out when everything would finally end. But in our case, many more bodies were visually identified. It was only then that the trouble began. Identified, but not their own. The lawsuits started again. But it was already a matter of reburial.
- Someone refused visual identification, relying only on DNA expertise?
- Personally, it was important for me to identify visually, to see with my own eyes a loved one. Believe that it is no more. DNA testing is an abnormal situation. Unnatural. It was impossible to bypass visual identification, no matter how difficult it was. Although it was this procedure that caused severe psychological trauma to many.
“I looked through all 170 bodies of the dead, but I didn’t find mine”
Georgy Efimenko lost his son, daughter-in-law and grandson in a crash near Donetsk. The first time after the funeral of loved ones, the man somehow held on. Then such anguish came over him that he abandoned his work.
It was saved by the fact that Georgiy is an activist. Left alone, he gathered close people of the rest of the dead. I found their phone numbers, I believed that together it is easier for people to experience grief. Efimenko completely immersed himself in social work. He did not even think that he could ever start a new family. But it turned out that in 2008 his daughter was born. 
Georgy Efimenko
- On the day when the disaster occurred over the Sinai Peninsula, I went with my daughter to the Hermitage, - began Georgy Efimenko. “Suddenly my son called me and told me about the tragedy. Old memories came flooding back to me. It's like going back 9 years. I called my friends who, like me, lost loved ones in 2006. Everyone sobbed into the phone. Remember your tragedy. I then realized that I could not remain indifferent to the situation. He immediately turned off the excursion program and went with a friend to the hotel, where the relatives of the dead were brought. I went into the hotel lobby and was stunned - the situation was the same as it was with us then. Even the smell was the same as it was 9 years ago. One to one. I was also struck by how similar these families were to ours. Apparently, trouble makes people the same, erases individual differences. I remember that my eyes fell on one family of three, they were sitting on the sidelines. How they reminded me of one of our families, even outwardly. Just a copy. And they froze in the same poses. The picture is back. For the first three or four hours, I was among the relatives of the dead, we helped the investigators compile lists of relatives, left the phone numbers of our organization to people so that they could turn to us for psychological, legal help, and moral support. Batiushka was also called, a conversation with a clergyman helps many at such moments.
- Did the behavior of people who lost loved ones in the terrorist act differ from your behavior then, in 2006?
- Everything happened the same way. People didn't understand what was going on for the first few hours. In addition, they constantly received calls from relatives, they caught every word of journalists - then there was information that the plane was seen over Turkey, then someone threw that there were survivors among the passengers. In 2006, the first 2-3 hours was exactly the same situation. Everyone believed that there had been a mistake. There was no official information for a long time. And when confirmation came that the liner had crashed, still no one fully believed it. Everyone wanted to believe in the best.
- Did many people turn to psychologists?
- Psychologists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations who work on disasters are sharpened to help people survive the first days of the tragedy. Not everyone turns to them. But, if psychologists see that a person begins to scream, hysteria, they immediately find the right words, calm people down.
- Why did the identification process take so long this time? Only now have the results of the DNA examination begun to be issued.
- Visually, only 58 people were able to identify this plane crash. Then the genetic testing began. But there were serious problems when taking DNA samples. Not all of the dead left the closest relatives - parents and children. Well, if there was a brother or sister, but if only nephews? It is difficult to calculate the result from the DNA of nephews, it takes more time. Therefore, the identification itself was delayed. Now it seems that everyone who could be identified.
- There were rumors that some relatives of the victims refused to undergo a visual identification procedure, because they lacked moral strength.
- I haven't heard about it. But where should they go? The body was not handed over without visual identification. In 2006, we had people who could not pass the identification procedure. They simply could not cross the threshold of the morgue. For example, among these was a mother who sent one daughter on a fatal flight. She gave way to a child with exacerbation of asthma, who had to urgently fly out. The daughters said, "I'll be on the next flight in 40 minutes."
- If the whole body is not preserved, what then to be?
- I heard that this time the investigators themselves separated visually recognizable bodies from those that could not be identified. And they themselves identified the bodies from photographs, according to personal data. Accordingly, the relatives of the dead were already brought specifically to one body, and not to all. In 2006, the situation was different. We were shown absolutely all the bodies of the dead. I remember how I sat with the investigator and looked through all 170 bodies on the monitor. I didn't recognize mine visually. I did not even imagine that in this way someone can be identified. Perhaps I could identify my grandson by his clothes. He was wearing a plaid suit. A small piece of cloth survived. I remember that in the photo they showed me a charred body and this suit. I look, and on the screen the buttons are 2 cm in diameter, while this button in real life was only half a centimeter. Also, the computer monitor showed an enlarged cage on the suit. I then got confused and could not visually identify the grandson. After a genetic examination, it turned out that it was my grandson. Also, after the DNA procedure, they showed me the bodies of my son and daughter-in-law. Visually, I wouldn't recognize them for anything. No matter how cynical it sounds, but you need to have a very rich imagination in order to recognize your children in completely burned bodies. Do not believe me, I realized that it was them, by their postures.
Do misidentifications happen often?
- In 2006, at the time of the identification process, people began to panic: “Suddenly we won’t find anyone, we won’t get anyone, so we need to take anyone, otherwise there will be no one to bury.” During identification, some relatives of the victims did not even look closely at the bodies, but simply said: “Ours” - and took the body away. After we received DNA examinations in our hands, we realized that not one or two people would have to be reburied. There were also unpleasant incidents with burials. The mother buried her daughter. After a while, she gets a call from the Investigative Committee: "We found another fragment of your daughter's leg." Sent to her. Mother buried. After some time, the woman called again - they found a fragment of a hand. We then sent a collective letter to the investigator with a request that all the remaining remains of the victims of the plane crash be disposed of, since the relatives had already buried everyone. I think that over the past years, investigators have taken into account all the mistakes of past years and this will not happen again.
“In the first years after the tragedy, many of those who could not cope with grief died”
- George, how did you resolve the issue of compensation?
- Insurance for each of our dead was 12 thousand rubles. 100 thousand rubles were allocated from the regional budget, 100 thousand - from the federal one. The airline paid us 300 thousand rubles for the deceased. And at first they took income tax from us with the words: “You have received income, it is supposed to deduct tax from it.” At the same time, we signed a paper: "We have no claims against the airline." But after our complaints, the tax and receipts were cancelled. As a result, we received 512 thousand for each deceased.
Did you pay for the funeral?
- For each deceased in our case, 70 thousand rubles were allocated for the funeral. For this amount we ordered wreaths, transport, fences, stones. I buried mine in a rural cemetery, next to my village house. He paid only 5 thousand rubles. Those who buried in city graveyards paid extra 10-15 rubles. But these are trifles.
- Did the relatives of those who died in the plane crash near Donetsk still try to get compensation from the airline for moral damage?
- We have been suing the airline for a long time. After all, 170 dead. But these courts have given nothing. In the decision, the judge pointed out that the airline voluntarily covered moral damages and due to the fact that “there are many relatives, but the company is one, it cannot be financially burdened.” The court sided with the airline. Nevertheless, after our trials, the relatives of those who died in other air crashes were already paid 2 million rubles each.
- Now there are many unpleasant situations related to the division of compensation between relatives. Have you managed to avoid these problems?
- We had only one case, when a dad came to receive money for a dead daughter, who had not seen the girl in the eye. He claimed half of the money. But he was not allowed to do so. Now they can’t resolve the money issues of grandparents, who are entitled to compensation for children, but not for grandchildren. Also in this disaster, families who had neither parents nor children died. In this case, no compensation is due to anyone. Brothers and sisters are not included in the definition of next of kin.
- Among those who did not wait for their relatives in 2006, are there those who could not cope with grief?
- The first years after the tragedy were black for many families. During this time, many people who were affected by our tragedy died. And they were very young, healthy men and women. For example, one man had his entire family killed in that plane crash. He grieved terribly. And a year and a half later he died of longing. Another was quickly stricken with cancer. People have exacerbated chronic diseases on the basis of nerves. I remember well one family that buried their son. On the anniversary of the tragedy, my father went to Donetsk alone, without his wife. He reached Ukraine and found out on the train that his wife had died. He did not even leave the station, bought a return ticket and went back to bury his wife. She couldn't deal with her grief.
- Your memorial is located on the territory of Donetsk. Is someone following him?
- A family lives in Donetsk, whose nephews died in that plane crash. These people looked after the memorial for 8 years. Last year they managed to get to the monument several times. With the outbreak of hostilities, they could no longer get there. They say that everything around is mined, shells are flying near the memorial. There after all near Gorlovka, Slavyansk.
- Looking back, can you tell when people who have buried loved ones will feel better?
- As far as I know, not everyone managed to bury their relatives by these 40 days. The rest are still waiting for their turn. As long as people have not buried a loved one, there is no need to talk about peace. When will they get better? Each person has their own time limit. It won't get any better, but the pain will subside. The hardest will be for those who have lost everyone. In our catastrophe there was one man whose wife and children were killed. Recently, I talked to them, began to remember. I said that I often look at photographs of my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. And do you know what he said to that? “And I’m slowly destroying my photographs. I have no one to leave them. Once I went to the garbage heap and saw someone's family album there. I don't want photos of my favorite people to end up in the trash too. And there is no one to leave them.”
When the text was being prepared, information came from relatives of those who died in a plane crash over the Sinai Peninsula: “What everyone was afraid of happened. We didn't find everyone. We don’t know how now the relatives who failed to bury their own will live ... "
What psychologists say to relatives of those killed in a plane crash
An-148 of Saratov Airlines crashed in the Moscow region, there were 71 people on board, including 3 Petersburgers. Immediately after the news of the disaster, psychologists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations begin to work with the relatives of the dead passengers. What is their help?
Psychotherapist Stanislav Poltorak explains that psychologists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations work with victims only in the first few days, their task is to resolve an emergency situation.
- The task of a psychotherapist is to teach a person how to live on?
– No, the task of a doctor is to use different methods of therapy, including medicinal ones. I avoid giving people advice on how to live. Because if you try to fit a replacement for someone - replace family with a job, and friends with a new hobby - then this will be a suitable replacement for the one who invented it, and not for the victim himself. He has his own history, his own biography, his own interests. Even if you manage to grope for something during the conversation, there will still be a crucial moment here. In any case, replacements are always standard - business, interests, friends. It is not at all necessary to go headlong into work, it is dangerous, but you need to redistribute your life in order to give more space to each side of life after the most important component has left - the family.
All this applies to people who have lost all their relatives in the disaster and, due to age or other circumstances, cannot start a new family. Young people, having recovered from the shock, give birth again. Or adopt.
- And what about friends and acquaintances - how to express sympathy?
- The best thing that friends and acquaintances can do for a person is to maintain the old relationship. Even if they were: once a day they said hello - that's all. So continue to say hello once a day, and not look for unnecessary meetings, at least at first. Because if a sympathizer sobs on your shoulder and says: “How can I understand you,” it certainly won’t get any easier.
“But it’s bad to leave a person alone with grief.
- Of course. The main task for the victim is not to be alone with himself, not to lock himself in the house. If you see that one of your friends “locks up” after a trouble, this is a sure sign for others that you need to call a psychologist. You just can't take it to the extreme. The other extreme is the rejection of the relationship. When, meeting you, a former acquaintance crosses the street. People are afraid to communicate with people with disabilities, and how is the victim different from the disabled? Only by the fact that his unhappiness is hidden inside.
The victim notices that former friends stop calling, hide their eyes on the street or run away altogether, and if this is repeated with different people, he may well “lock himself in the house”. Here, whoever is lucky. Sometimes the situation may not worsen immediately, but when the money is received - compensation and insurance. Some kind of seventh water on jelly may appear, which will say: here you were paid 4 million, but I don’t, but I desperately need 500 thousand to ...
- When is it better to contact the victims with offers of assistance?
– I don’t think it’s necessary until the 40th day. People have trouble with insurance payments and funerals. These are the ones who managed to identify. Those who did not succeed are still waiting for a genetic examination, and these are weeks of waiting. In general, not earlier than a month later, the lives of the victims return to their usual track, in which they begin to feel emptiness.
Psychologist Elena Kudryavtseva believes that the victim can get out of depression among like-minded people in grief.
– The easiest way out is to participate in charity, to help people who find themselves in a similar situation. That is, first to integrate with people united by the same grief. True, there is a problem of older people - they often do not know how to use the Internet.
- So, the elderly need a psychologist most of all?
- A psychologist is needed for everyone who has chosen two wrong ones out of three adaptation mechanisms. Many unconsciously choose the wrong mechanism. Or they die, and not necessarily with the help of some kind of active actions, but simply cease to live and that's it. Or another option - a person lives in depression, it becomes the meaning of his life. People constantly go to the cemetery and bring their own death closer.
And the constructive mechanism is, after all the experiences, to look for a new meaning in life, even if it seems that it is no longer there. The word "survive" means: to survive and live on. It’s bad that the elderly, and due to age, think that life is already over, why change then.
Nina Astafieva
A little over a month ago, the world was struck by an emergency. A Russian airbus crashed over the Sinai Peninsula. Now the relatives of the dead passengers will have to identify, bury the remains and the procedure for issuing compensation.
Dear readers! The article talks about typical ways to solve legal issues, but each case is individual. If you want to know how solve exactly your problem- contact a consultant:
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accident in the sky
The recent crash of an Airbus A 321 of the Kogalymavia airline in Egypt resulted in the death of 224 passengers, including 25 children and 7 crew members. Based on legal terminology, such events are called an accident. This term refers to an unforeseen event or set of circumstances that led to the death of a person or various bodily injuries.
The airliner, on board of which there were Russian tourists, flew towards Russia in the morning of October 31, 2015. However, at the 23rd minute of its flight, the plane disappeared from the radar screens. Some time later, its fragments were found in the center of the Sinai Peninsula. The Egyptian search party was the first to arrive on the scene.
RosAviation immediately provided its version of the incident. This was done based on the location of the bodies of the dead passengers and crew, as well as taking into account the placement of the wreckage of the airliner. The destruction of the Airbus began from the tail section. After it broke off from the main part of the aircraft, the people in this compartment fell out. The incident occurred at an altitude of more than eight and a half thousand meters.
President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims and commented on the situation with the following words: “In order to find out the cause of the disaster, it is necessary to carry out appropriate investigative measures, and the issue of providing assistance to the families of the victims must be resolved as soon as possible.”
This crash is the largest in the history of Russia.
Compensation for damage
It took three weeks to find out the official reason for the crash of our liner. After this period, the representative of the affected party reported that the plane with Russian tourists crashed as a result of a terrorist act. At the same time, Ismail Lepiev is the official owner of the TN&C tourist holding, which includes the Kogalymavia airline.
He commented as follows:
“We are interested in all options for solving the problem, including the financial and political aspects. Russia and Egypt have achieved a lot thanks to cooperation. These relationships have been built over several decades, so we will try to agree on the payment of full compensation without litigation. We are currently awaiting the results of the official investigation and the announcement of the results."
It is worth noting that the head of the holding did not announce a specific amount.
How can relatives of the victims receive compensation?
Regarding the provision of material assistance to the families of those killed near Sinai, the administration of the city of St. Petersburg was the first to react. The regional government also promised not to ignore this accident and provide material assistance to the families of the region's residents. A few days later, a corresponding resolution was issued dated 02.11.2015 No. 980. Based on this decision, the relatives of the victims will receive 1 million rubles, regardless of the region of permanent registration. At the moment, 148 million rubles have already been paid.
Tatyana Timofeeva, vice-president of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Advocates, said that professional lawyers will help in collecting and preparing the necessary documents, as well as in drafting and submitting applications for assistance. Support in litigation is also possible.
In his commentary to the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Karen Asoyan, director of public relations of IC Ingosstrakh, stated the following: “Some of the statements addressed to us about the promised simplified procedure were misunderstood. We meant that receiving an advance payment, which amounts to 100 thousand rubles. will be in a simplified form.
To receive the principal amount of compensation, you will need to provide all the necessary documents. Without them, it is simply impossible to make the main payment. Since we are obliged to comply with the verification procedures. As for insurance payments, all the crashed citizens were insured by Ingosstrakh.
According to the data provided by the insurer, as of December 07, 2019, the company paid the insurance premium in full only to 36 families of deceased tourists. The total amount is 70 million 609 thousand rubles. In total, the full payment of the compensation amount was received 76 applications.
According to preliminary data, we can say the following: the relatives of 168 victims were paid 16 million 800 thousand rubles.
Collection of documents
According to the life insurance law, in order to receive compensation from the insurer, the following documents must be prepared:
- passport of the spouse (s), children, parents, brothers or sisters of the deceased;
- death certificate of the deceased;
- the birth certificate of the deceased;
- birth certificate of the children of the deceased;
- birth documents of brothers and sisters of the deceased;
- documents confirming that the beneficiary has legal grounds for compensation in the event of the loss of the breadwinner or vice versa, that the deceased was a dependent:
- income statement 2 personal income tax for 2019 and 2019;
- extract from the house book;
- certificate from the place of study, work;
- pensioner's ID;
- a copy of the work book;
- certificate of disability.
The payment is made from the city budget.
To apply for payment, residents of St. Petersburg need to apply with a similar list of documents to the district administration at the place of permanent or temporary registration of the deceased. To apply for compensation for a deceased from another region, a list of documents is submitted to the social protection authorities or to a multifunctional center (MFC) at the place of registration of the deceased.
Amount and terms of payments
After some time, the relatives of the victims began to realize what had happened and to think about the question of what compensation they would receive for the loss of their relatives. According to the law, the amount of insurance payment to the relatives of those who died in the disaster is at least 2 million rubles. Additional compensation for loss or damage to luggage should not exceed 23,000 rubles. Compensation to relatives for the funeral of the victim is 25 thousand rubles. Summing up all these figures, we can conclude that the total compensation payment will reach 2 - 2.5 million rubles. per passenger of the A 321 airliner.
Immediately after the announcement of the disaster, representatives of the insurer announced their readiness to pay additional compensation to the relatives of the victims. A simplified and accelerated issuance of advance payments in the amount of 100 thousand rubles was organized. per passenger. The payment is intended for urgent costs associated with the disaster. The management of Ingosstrakh, represented by Karen Asoyan, expressed their condolences on what had happened and guaranteed that all necessary payments would be made in 30 days. As for the seven crew members of the airliner, they have nothing to do with Ingosstrakh. According to the requirements of compulsory life insurance of the aircraft crew members, they were insured by OJSC IC Allianz.
The amount of insurance compensation is determined by Article 132 of the Air Code and amounts to 100 thousand rubles.
The official representative of the insurer said that the insurance payment will be made in favor of the relatives of the victims in the near future.
The Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation announced its intention to make additional lump-sum payments related to the death of an employee. In this case, compensation in favor of the family of the deceased is 1 million rubles. If the deceased has minor children, the amount is divided proportionally: 50% the widow (widower) of the deceased worker and his child receive the same amount. In addition, the Fund guarantees the receipt of monthly compensation to all minor children or their legal guardians. The specific amount is determined based on the size of the employee's salary.
The amount for which the crashed aircraft was insured is not disclosed by the management of the insurance company and the air carrier. According to Nikolai Galushin, head of the competing insurer company SK SOGAZ, the average cost of paying out in the event of a crash of this aircraft is from 500 million to 1 billion dollars. In addition to all of the above participants in the incident, the name of the Brisco travel company appears. Her clients were among the citizens who crashed and were insured by VSK.
But in their contract it was specifically stated that the risk of a plane crash does not apply to an insured event, therefore, claims based on the law cannot be made against them.
Foreign practice
Analyzing the practice of other countries in the payment of material compensation, experts recognize the French system as the best. The government of this country creates conditions to improve the lives of people whose relatives died as a result of an accident or a terrorist attack.
France
In France, back in 1986, the S. O. S. Attentat association was created, it accumulates budgetary and charitable money intended to help the families of the victims. At the same time, in the event of the death of a family member, assistance is not limited to a lump sum and insurance payment. The family receives a stable monthly allowance, which depends on its financial situation, as well as the number of children.
Germany
In July 2002, a Tu-154 passenger liner and a cargo Boeing-757 collided in Germany. The Russian aircraft belonged to the Bashkir Airlines. The collision killed 57 passengers, including 45 schoolchildren and 12 crew members. Relatives of the victims received compensation in the amount of 100 to 300 thousand dollars. The payment of money was made from a special fund, which was financed by the government of Germany and Switzerland. The Skyguide air traffic service also took part in the payment of compensation. The cause of the disaster was the error of their dispatcher.
