In Odesa, they started looking for those responsible for unpreparedness for floods

Law enforcement officers have begun inspections and investigations in the offices of the Odesa municipality and district administrations as part of criminal proceedings under Article 367, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (negligence that caused the death of people).

Inna Verba, a spokeswoman for the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, told Intent.

According to her, the proceedings were initiated due to the deaths of people during a downpour on September 30. As part of the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement agencies are checking possible facts of official negligence by officials of the Odesa City Council, its structural and individual units, which resulted in improper maintenance of the drainage system in the city and failure to take the necessary measures for drainage.

A set of investigative and operational measures is currently underway to collect the necessary materials for their investigation in the framework of criminal proceedings. If found guilty and proven guilty in court, the officials may face imprisonment for a term of five to eight years with disqualification to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and a fine of two thousand to five thousand tax-free minimum incomes or without it.

Meanwhile, journalist Iryna Hryb reported that searches were conducted, among others, at the offices of Deputy Mayor Oleksiy Filatov (First Deputy) and Hanna Pozdnyakova, who is responsible for the sustainable functioning and development of housing and communal services.

As for the searches of specific officials, the prosecutor's office can neither confirm nor deny them because the investigation is still ongoing. Currently, the mayor's office admits that nine citizens died as a result of the bad weather, although the State Emergency Service reports 10 deaths, and a total of 11 bodies were found after the storm.

The mayor's office explained that two died of other causes. However, the Dumskaya newspaper, citing its sources in the police , reported that the results of the examination of the causes of death of two more citizens are not yet available, but the preliminary version is that people died of a heart attack caused by the stress of being swept away by the flow of water.

Кирило Бойко