Cannon hits 4 at battle re-enactment
by Evgeniya Chaykovskaya at 16/07/2012 17:05
Four participants in a re-enactment of a Napoleonic war battle near St. Petersburg got more than they had bargained for when they were injured by an accidental cannon shot.
The re-enactment of a battle in the Merevo village ended with four people being treated for injuries after cannon fire on Saturday at the “No wonder all of Russia remembers” festival celebrating the 200th anniversary of Russia’s victory over Napoleon, RIA Novosti reported.
The re-enactors played out a fragment of the Battle of Borodino from the Patriotic War of 1812, known as the fight for the bridge over the Koloch River.
More than 100 people were taking part in the re-enactment, members of military history clubs from Gatchina, Vyborg, the Lebyazhye village, Cherepovets and St. Petersburg.
Accidental cannon shot
When imitating a shot from a fuse cannon with a pyrotechnic charge, there was an accidental shot, and the ramrod flew out of the cannon’s trunk, hitting three men and a woman, a law enforcement source told Interfax.
A 37-year-old St. Petersburg resident was taken to a hospital with an open fracture of his right thigh, and is now in moderately severe condition. The other three were treated for lighter injuries – bruising and burns to thighs and hands.
During the event, re-enactors playing Russian gunners were cleaning the cannon, and a part of the ramrod broke and remained in the barrel unnoticed, one of the users of a re-enactment forum wrote online.
Another eyewitness said that the injured were not noticed until later.
“The cannon fires, then a quick hand-to-hand fight, everyone is happy, everyone is happy, everyone is hugging… I look around,” another user wrote. “See ‘battle losses’ lying on the ground, chatting with Russians… Then from the side of the battery, I heard shouts for a doctor. I thought, ‘Well done, guys, what believable play!”
The ambulance did not appear immediately, but a doctor in the audience performed first aid. The police are investigating the accident. The organizers stressed that audience members were not injured.
“Nothing scary happened, it is a historical reconstruction and anything can happen,” the local tourist center said. “The participants are prepared for it in advance.”
http://themoscownews.com/russia/20120716/189964446.html
The re-enactment of a battle in the Merevo village ended with four people being treated for injuries after cannon fire on Saturday at the “No wonder all of Russia remembers” festival celebrating the 200th anniversary of Russia’s victory over Napoleon, RIA Novosti reported.
The re-enactors played out a fragment of the Battle of Borodino from the Patriotic War of 1812, known as the fight for the bridge over the Koloch River.
More than 100 people were taking part in the re-enactment, members of military history clubs from Gatchina, Vyborg, the Lebyazhye village, Cherepovets and St. Petersburg.
Accidental cannon shot
When imitating a shot from a fuse cannon with a pyrotechnic charge, there was an accidental shot, and the ramrod flew out of the cannon’s trunk, hitting three men and a woman, a law enforcement source told Interfax.
A 37-year-old St. Petersburg resident was taken to a hospital with an open fracture of his right thigh, and is now in moderately severe condition. The other three were treated for lighter injuries – bruising and burns to thighs and hands.
During the event, re-enactors playing Russian gunners were cleaning the cannon, and a part of the ramrod broke and remained in the barrel unnoticed, one of the users of a re-enactment forum wrote online.
Another eyewitness said that the injured were not noticed until later.
“The cannon fires, then a quick hand-to-hand fight, everyone is happy, everyone is happy, everyone is hugging… I look around,” another user wrote. “See ‘battle losses’ lying on the ground, chatting with Russians… Then from the side of the battery, I heard shouts for a doctor. I thought, ‘Well done, guys, what believable play!”
The ambulance did not appear immediately, but a doctor in the audience performed first aid. The police are investigating the accident. The organizers stressed that audience members were not injured.
“Nothing scary happened, it is a historical reconstruction and anything can happen,” the local tourist center said. “The participants are prepared for it in advance.”
http://themoscownews.com/russia/20120716/189964446.html
