On the bypass canal near the village of Lebedivka, Vyshhorod district, an UAZ car with two men inside fell through the ice while drifting. The body of one of them was found, while divers are searching for the other for the second day.
This was reported by the State Emergency Service of the Kyiv region.
According to emergency services, the body of one deceased man, born in 1971, was recovered.
“The location of the probable flooding was determined after a video appeared showing the car drifting on the ice and at some point disappearing under water. Rescuers cut through the ice and, using an underwater drone, established that the car was at a depth of over 4 meters,” the State Emergency Service said.
According to rescuers, the operation was extremely difficult: the thick ice was cut meter by meter, and due to almost zero visibility and a thick layer of silt, the divers worked practically blindly.
Using a cable and winch, they pulled the car under the ice almost from the middle of the reservoir, cut a hole and pulled it to shore.
The second man was not found in the car. Search operations are ongoing. They are being complicated by weather conditions, Viktoria Ruban, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv Region, said on the air of “Social. Studio”.
“At the moment, divers are working, examining the water area to find the second person. The work itself is complicated by the frost, heavy snow and very low visibility in the water. Therefore, divers and rescuers have to examine almost every 10 centimeters in order to find the body of the second man,” said Victoria Ruban.
The spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service added that in recent weeks, more and more videos have appeared on social networks showing cars going out onto the ice of the Kyiv Sea for drifting. This is a very dangerous type of recreation, despite the severe frost and thick ice.
“The only rule is not to go out onto the ice, not to drive a car under any circumstances, so that such a situation does not occur. Where there were no gullies yesterday in such frost, with such a thick ice, today gullies are appearing in many places. It is precisely because there is a rise in the ice level, the ice varies and that is why new gullies appear. And this is very dangerous,” emphasized Victoria Ruban.