1961 Kurenivka mudslide in Kiev

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On March 13, 1961, a large-scale mudslide with numerous fatalities took place in Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev (Kyiv) (then part of the Soviet Union).

The dam securing the loam pulp dump of a brick factory near Babi Yar failed after rain, releasing large volumes of pulp down the high steep hill along the modern Olena Teliha Street. The slide immediately hit the lower-located Kurenivka neighbourhood, including residential area, the Krasin Tram Depot, several industrial buildings and a cemetery, as well as automobiles and trams on its way.

The estimated number of casualties varies from 1,500 to 2,000, but only 146 people were officially recognized as such.

Recovery operations continued for days, but no official notification of the tragedy had been published by the Soviet authorities. No public remembrance activities were allowed.

As a result of the subsequent investigation, several construction engineers and managers responsible for dam’s design and maintenance were accused of criminal negligence and convicted.

[edit] See also

• History of Kiev
• Subdivisions of Kiev
• 1811 Great fire of Podil

[edit] External links

• Oleksandr Anisimov. The Kurenivka Apocalypse. Pictures, documents, and recollections about the March 13, 1961 disaster in Kiev (in Ukrainian)
• 45 Years After the Flooding (newspaper article including survivor's story)
• President calls to remember victims of the Kurenivka tragedy (TV news brief including photo of the disaster results)