Among the victims there are 2 law enforcers, sergeant V. Goven and senior sergeant G. Ryabokon, who tried to stop the crowd rushing to the underground and to prevent people from falling down on the rails.
The tragedy unfolded when a severe storm broke out near the Sports Palace where a mass outdoor feast was coming to its end. The event was organized by the 'Class-Club Jazz Craft' Ltd. According to the law enforcers, several thousand people, mostly teenagers, came to take part in the contests, and listen to the 'Mango-Mango' group.
The youth looking for a shelter from the storm tried to cross Masherov Avenue, but was stopped by the law enforcers. Then the teenagers rushed to the nearest underground station. There, just at the same moment passengers of the arrived train who had come to join the feast makers moved towards the crowd. On the passage stairs they clashed. The crowd escaping the rain threw back those mounting the stairs.
'Somebody fell, there appeared the first blood. A girl wearing high heels slipped on it and dragged others with her. The crowd started to trample down those who fell,' says an underground attendant who eyewitnessed the tragedy. At the same time another crowd of people approached the passage from the Central Cathedral where a service to mark the Orthodox holiday 'Trinity' was held.
As a law enforcer who participated in rescuing operations informed Interfax, 'the clash was terrible. Cries of anguish broke through happy sounds and whistles. People fell and fell right under the feet of the constantly growing crowd. During a few moments more than two thousand people filled a rather narrow underground passage. A dense moving human jam was formed.' 'Corpses were lying in three levels and people were moving on them: We dragged them by the heads,' he said.
Intensive care departments of the 1st, 2nd and 3d Clinical Hospitals located nearby were filled practically immediately. Only the 2nd Hospital received more than 60 injured people. The biggest in Belarus intensive care department in the First Aid Hospital designed for 25 patients received about 100 people that night. As one of the assistants informed Interfax, dufing the first 30 minutes people were delivered not only by militia cars but also by private cars and minibuses.
Main diagnoses are concussion, fracture of the base of the scull, compression of the chest, fractures of limbs.
In the Reception Ward of the 2nd Hospital the slightly injured 15-year old Rouslan said he had been there with his tow girl-friends and two friends. 'We are football fans, that is why we know how to break through such a crowd: protectthe head with hands and reach to the exit. But girls do not know that. And physically they are weaker…’.
Law enforcers carried away 11 bags with lost personal belongings: bags, umbrellas and footwear out of the passage. The Minsk Subway Administration had more than once raised the issue of closing 'Nyemiga'underground station located near the Sports Palace when mass outdoor events were being held there.