Two schoolgirls were killed after the ceiling of an abandoned farm building in Leningrad, Russia, collapsed on them. The tragic incident occurred in Terpilitsy on the evening of May 31 while the girls were reportedly filming a video inside the structure.
The girls, identified as 11-year-old Masha and 12-year-old Moika, were reportedly out on a walk when they went to the abandoned slaughterhouse around 5 p.m. The structure is located on the outskirts of their village.
The disturbing video, captured by a phone placed on a windowsill, shows the girls messing with the bricks along a crumbling wall before it gave way. They tugged at the bricks and found a brick on the floor to strike them. The bricks ultimately became loose and started to fall, bringing down part of the ceiling with them. Both girls were crushed by a falling concrete slab.
Their families became concerned when they failed to return home and reported them missing. During a search, the girls were discovered in the building, and their bodies had to be pulled from under the rubble.
The two were pronounced dead at the scene. The phone, believed to have been set up by the girls, was still on the windowsill.
According to reports, the building was part of a former agricultural facility and had not been secured or fenced off. The father of one of the girls said the children had been warned not to enter the property. “They knew not to go there,” he said. The distraught father also said that other children were present in the area at the time, but they were unharmed. The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the incident under charges of causing death by negligence.
Days before the incident, a similar case occurred in the Moscow region on May 21, when two boys were seriously injured after a concrete fence collapsed. While the identity of the boys was not disclosed, it was revealed that they were ages 11 and 12. The incident happened at a construction site in the Balashikha community. One boy suffered multiple fractures; the other sustained abdominal and spinal injuries.
