Vladivostok: Traffic Jams, Mass Accidents as if the Whole City Is an Ice Skating Rink

Powerful footage came from Vladivostok today: a short snowfall and icy ground have turned the city into a continuous traffic accident. The icy roads are in complete chaos.

Powerful footage came from Vladivostok today: a short snowfall and icy ground have turned the city into a continuous traffic accident. The icy roads are in complete chaos. Cars are either rolling down the hills by themselves, or are stuck in huge traffic jams. Our correspondent, Andrei Kolesnikov wasn't able to get to the office, but was still able to film his report in these extreme conditions.

Tthese videos from Vladivostok were breaking viewership records. A quick snowfall paralyzed the whole city in under an hour. Traffic jams, mass accidents as if the whole city is an ice skating rink. He keeps going! My poor Arista! Leave! Almost under every road, there's local ice carnage. The number of damaged cars is no longer in the dozens, but in the hundreds.

 

Roads turning to instant ice caught drivers by surprise. And here's a real extreme one: the driver abandons the wheel and tries to stop the iron horse with his bare hands. Uncontrollable cars were hitting people.

Accurate data on the number of victims is still missing. City's emergency services are still having problems. Even the snow-removing equipment was useless for several hours.

Pedestrians are trying to help the drivers, and on social media dozens of proposals appeared to help the people in distress, with offers of hot meals and even places to spend the night.

The snowfall in Vladivostok ended as quickly as it began. But the city continues to move extremely slowly in traffic jams. In some places, there's still no movement. Drivers are waiting for police to file accident reports.

The inter-city transport was limited. A temporary ban on the entry of heavy trucks was introduced. The bypass route was closed. Ministry of Emergencies specialists have warned of possible interruptions in electricity supply.

Andrei Kolesnikov, Anton Gvasdetskiy. From Vladivostok — Vesti.