12:48, 26 January 2004

Incident near Gekhi village - details

Details of the incident near the Chechen village of Gekhi were disclosed at the press center of the Russian Interior Ministry in the North Caucasian region on January 23. The fire was caused by a traffic accident.

According to information of the press center, the day before, at about 8 a.m., a Volga car hit a 19-year-old Russian serviceman on the Rostov-Baku federal route near its crossing with the road to Gekhi. The accident happened because of the fog. Then the car collided with a BMP (infantry combat vehicle) of the federal troops. Having decided that a terrorist act was going on, servicemen started firing. A VAZ 21099 car that followed the Volga car started turning and came under fire. A 48-year-old woman from Grozny who was in the VAZ car died as a result of the incident. Two other passengers of the car, officials of the Ministry of Justice, were taken to a hospital in Urus-Martan with wounds of different severity. The Volga car driver and the serviceman suffered in the traffic accident were also taken to hospital.

Editors note: See also the article "Soldiers opened fire on car with police officers in Chechnya".

Source: NTV TV Company