Minsk railway terminal “mined” with 5-litre bottle of whiskey (photo)
Minsk transport police paid attention to a suspicious object near the entrance to the international ticket offices of Minsk railway terminal at about 10 a.m. on August 20. Being unable to understand whether the object was dangerous or not, they called combat engineers.
A transport policeman explained to an ERB reporter that it was necessary to invite specialists in such a situation “just in case”.
Policeman: “It is better to play safe once rather then allow something bad to happen. That is why they (combat engineers. – ERB.) arrive every time they are asked to”.
An ERB reporter arrived on the spot together with a group of combat engineers. Policemen refused to give any comments while specialists were examining the suspicious object left near a dustbin not far from the international ticket offices. However when they found out that the reason for the alarm was a smashed 5-litre bottle of whiskey and a hank of some ropes, the commanding officer of the police mining group “Diamond” told ERB how often such incidents occurred.
“Diamond” commanding officer: “In general, I cannot say we are frequently informed that something is mined these days. There can be acute conditions in some people, especially if they are mentally unbalanced. However, we work according to our normal schedule. It is important that people should be more attentive now. You must have heard about the situation in the Russian Federation and all over the world – terrorist acts performed with the help of blasting assemblies have become frequent. That is why people are attentive. Let them be attentive and let us fulfill our duties this way rather than allow an accident similar to those occurring in Russia happen”.
According to the head of the railway terminal transport police Henadz Zavadski, employees of their department often have to call combat engineers for help. Policemen are instructed to do so.
Zavadski: “They are informed about the signs of blasting assemblies every day – how it can look like, what it is like. They have to pay attention to all suspicious objects while they are on duty. If they cannot find the owner and if they do not understand what is inside, they call combat engineers to conduct a check-up”.
However, he did not manage to recall when policemen’s attentiveness had been justified.
The mine clearing operation ended 20 minutes later. Cashiers refused to comment on the incident. However, they did not look frightened.
Photo by Zmitser Lukashuk
A transport policeman explained to an ERB reporter that it was necessary to invite specialists in such a situation “just in case”.
Policeman: “It is better to play safe once rather then allow something bad to happen. That is why they (combat engineers. – ERB.) arrive every time they are asked to”.
An ERB reporter arrived on the spot together with a group of combat engineers. Policemen refused to give any comments while specialists were examining the suspicious object left near a dustbin not far from the international ticket offices. However when they found out that the reason for the alarm was a smashed 5-litre bottle of whiskey and a hank of some ropes, the commanding officer of the police mining group “Diamond” told ERB how often such incidents occurred.
“Diamond” commanding officer: “In general, I cannot say we are frequently informed that something is mined these days. There can be acute conditions in some people, especially if they are mentally unbalanced. However, we work according to our normal schedule. It is important that people should be more attentive now. You must have heard about the situation in the Russian Federation and all over the world – terrorist acts performed with the help of blasting assemblies have become frequent. That is why people are attentive. Let them be attentive and let us fulfill our duties this way rather than allow an accident similar to those occurring in Russia happen”.
According to the head of the railway terminal transport police Henadz Zavadski, employees of their department often have to call combat engineers for help. Policemen are instructed to do so.
Zavadski: “They are informed about the signs of blasting assemblies every day – how it can look like, what it is like. They have to pay attention to all suspicious objects while they are on duty. If they cannot find the owner and if they do not understand what is inside, they call combat engineers to conduct a check-up”.
However, he did not manage to recall when policemen’s attentiveness had been justified.
The mine clearing operation ended 20 minutes later. Cashiers refused to comment on the incident. However, they did not look frightened.
Photo by Zmitser Lukashuk
