Rescue of a boy in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. This is the largest search: thousands of people are looking for a lost boy in Belovezhskaya Pushcha

Rescuers, military, police, border guards, foresters, local residents and volunteers, who travel to the village of Novy Dvor, Svisloch district, from all over Belarus, are involved in the search for the missing 10-year-old Maksim Markhaliuk today. On Saturday, if the search does not give a result, a meeting of all search and rescue teams in the country is scheduled.

- This is the largest search operation in our practice- He speaks commander of the search and rescue squad "Angel" Sergey Kovgan, — people come from all over Belarus. The problem is that there are many volunteers, and there are not enough people who can properly organize them. And if a few days ago people came randomly, now we ask you to arrive at a certain time.

The gathering of search groups is carried out near the building of the village council at 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00.

As for night searches, it is better for unprepared people not to participate in them. Now, in addition to looking for a boy, our the main task- ensure the safety of volunteers who go into the forest.

Recall that the boy disappeared in Belovezhskaya Pushcha last Saturday evening. They have been searching for him for seven days now. During this time, thousands of people took part in the search.

- On the this moment (10 am on September 22. - Approx. TUT.BY)865 people were involved in the search. Among them are 228 employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the republican special forces detachment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, police officers and the military. Our psychologists went to the place, aviation is involved, volunteers are working. During the day, people involved in the search for the boy will most likely become more— told TUT.BYNatalya Zhivolevskaya, official representative of the UOMChS in the Grodno region.

Also, at the request of the rescuers, the Busel M40 drones of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus were connected to the search.

During the night sorties, the coordinates of a number of places where the missing child may be located were found. According to the data received, the rescuers have been examining the places of the possible location of the child discovered with the help of thermal imagers mounted on drones since the morning. Search flights continue during the day.

In groups in in social networks search and rescue teams have created special Internet documents, where the actions of those going in search are coordinated. Here you can offer your services as a driver, find a free place in the car and send products to search engines.

- The general gathering of detachments is scheduled for the weekend for a reason. So we can attract more people who have professional search skills to search. It is worth remembering that volunteers search voluntarily in their free time,- He speaks Sergey Kovgan.

Help search and rescue squad "Angel" it is possible financially - there are a lot of expenses. You can do this by transferring from a bank card, you can also make a USSD request for MTS subscribers *222*13#. You can replenish the balance of mobile phones: +375 33 666-68-56, +375 33 666-60-33.

The Gomel search and rescue team "Simuran" takes part in the search. Over the past day, five cars were sent from Gomel. The rest do not have enough finance for fuel. If anyone can help in refueling the car, the guys will be grateful. Requisites for help:
Belinvestbank card, number 4344 8602 1083 8086, valid until 12/21. You can also replenish the balance of an MTS subscriber: +375 29 2321111 (this is the squad's phone number).

The story of the missing Maxim did not leave many indifferent. Even some enterprises of the region send their employees in search of the boy.

“Now several versions are being considered of what could have happened to the boy. But there is no evidence that would indicate that the disappearance of Maxim is of a criminal nature,- told the Department of Internal Affairs of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee.

CHRONICLE OF THE DISAPPEARANCE

On Saturday, September 16, Maxim Markhaliuk rode out of the house at about 5:30 pm. At about six in the evening, he stopped by his classmate Cyril to call for mushrooms. But he refused. The mother of the missing child sounded the alarm at eight o'clock in the evening. There was an agreement at home - to return no later than this time. And Maxim always came on time.

At ten in the evening the police received a report of the disappearance. Among the first volunteers was the director of the school, Alla Goncharevich: “At the entrance to the thicket, we saw a lot of hoof marks from bison. People said that not long before this, a whole herd passed by. Perhaps the animals scared Maxim.

Search engines and rescuers ask volunteers who go to the forest to take rubber boots, waterproof and warm clothes, preferably bright colors.

Today you are cheerful and proactive, all things will work out. An exceptionally productive day at work. Work will again be in abundance, but it, more than ever, annoys and tires you. Overloads are fraught with a nervous breakdown.

Last Saturday, a boy disappeared in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. He went for a walk and got lost under strange circumstances. I found out about this only on Tuesday evening, because until that time we had been visiting Shchelkovo.

The time was approaching the end of the week, and the child was still not there. My husband and I decided not to stand aside and join the search.

The first time we went on Fri. We left at 4 in the morning, around half 8 in the morning we were at the place. I didn’t sleep at all on the road. We arrived at the place, registered and began to wait for the search team. The organization was still limping on Fri, so it took a long time to get together.

We were given a square of terrain that needed to be combed. The paradox is that unprepared people cannot walk straight through the forest. Starting at a distance of 5 m, after a while, many either converged and ended up nearby, or diverged, “like ships in the sea.” I was lucky in this regard, I walked between the coordinator and my husband, and they both go straight. I just focused on them ... in general, in Pushcha, a raincoat and rubber boots are ideal clothes and shoes. Despite the fact that it was about +20 and sunny outside, it was damp and cool in the Pushcha itself. But for me, these clothes were too heavy. It was hard in the end to rearrange the legs in rubber boots.

On Fri, we left home with nothing to return on Sat. On Saturday, a nationwide gathering was announced, in which more than 2,000 people participated. The organization on Saturday, although it was clear, but to coordinate such a number of people is a huge job. I worked at headquarters on Saturday, so I know what I'm talking about. Everyone went to their squares, and we had hours of waiting. Although we didn’t have to be particularly bored. News came from the squares every minute, and unfortunately nothing concrete. No trace of the boy's stay in the forest. And so my second day of searching passed.

Separately, I would like to talk about the people involved in the search. Many did not know what they were doing. They came to search in sneakers, and as a result, in half an hour they were with wet feet and, of course, they were out of action. There were also those who tried to PICK MUSHROOMS on the territory. Naturally, this affected the quality and speed of the inspection. Therefore, on Saturday, an announcement appeared at the headquarters stating that those who came to pick mushrooms should go pick mushrooms and not sign up for the search group.

Some were not ready to work in a team. What oppressed people was that they were commanded by a coordinator. They are smarter than everyone, and they know what is best. Some were downright infuriated by the fact that if one stops, everyone stops. We tried to go further, as a result, the combing of the square turned into aimless and chaotic walking around the square. The coordinator naturally got angry, returned back, and it turned out that such people were exhausted 2 times faster due to the fact that they went through much more than we did, in their own way. nonsense. And by the way, I walked 18.5 km on Friday ... my legs were buzzing by the end of the day so that I could barely walk.

The entire village of Novy Dvor was and is in tension. The boy has not been found yet. From what was found, only his bicycle and a basket with mushrooms (during the first days of the search), then traces in the swamp of approximately his size, traces of beds in the forest, again, not the fact that he was. One day, one day, a mushroom picker saw him, but when he saw the mushroom picker, the boy ran deep into the forest.

There are many versions. Neither crime, nor escape, nor the fact that the child is lost and scared. Every day, the hope of finding him alive is melting.

All in all, this is an adventure I've been through.

I am attaching a photo of the forest so that you understand what kind of terrain it is.

Still no trace Maxim Markhaliuk not found. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case today under Part 2 of Art. 167 Code of Criminal Procedure. Svaboda collected 10 main facts about the disappearance of a 10-year-old child:

1. Circumstances of disappearance

The first reports of the disappearance of Maxim Markhaliuk appeared on 18 September. The report said that the mother of a 10-year-old boy turned to the police and said that at about 20.00 on the evening of September 16, he rode a bicycle towards the forest near his village and disappeared. Already at 10 pm on the same day, they began to look for Maxim - parents, fellow villagers, police officers and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In the forest they found the boy's bicycle, a basket of mushrooms, but no more traces.

2. Where does it happen

All events take place in the village of Novy Dvor, Svisloch district, on the outskirts of Belovezhskaya Pushcha. The village council said that the house of the Markhalyuks stands on the outskirts of the village, next to the forest. About 500 meters from the house, a hut was built in the forest, where the Markhalyuks dry mushrooms.

Already on Monday, September 18, not only police officers and employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but also teachers from his school, high school students, residents of Novy Dvor and surrounding villages, volunteers from different cities of Belarus came to search for Maxim.

3. About Markhalyukov

Maxim Markhaluk is 10 years old. According to the police report, he appeared to be 8 or 9 years old, wearing blue sweatpants, a brown hooded sweater, and a cherry-coloured tank top.

Mother Valentina Nikolaevna works as a technician at school, father Valery Nikolaevich is a worker at a local agricultural enterprise.

Valentina told reporters that they went around the whole neighborhood in search of Maxim day and night, examined the swamps and abandoned houses, combed the forest, but to no avail. Maksim's older brother Sasha (who has already graduated from a military school) said that his brother warned him: they say, he only walks along the edge of the forest and will return home. He also says that Maxim did not go far alone, that he did not quarrel with anyone that day. According to Sasha, his brother could have been frightened by a herd of bison - there were many bison tracks where Maxim left his bicycle and basket.

In the first days after the boy disappeared, the parents turned to fortune-tellers and psychics - they allegedly said that the boy was alive.

4. Version of the search headquarters

10 days after the disappearance of Maxim Markhaliuk, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 167 Code of Criminal Procedure.

The article decides to start a case if, within 10 days from the filing of a statement about the disappearance of a person, it was not possible to find his whereabouts.

Previously, investigators did not see grounds for a criminal case. As they said, there is no reason to believe that the boy was the victim of a crime.

The main version, which was followed for ten days at the search headquarters, was that the boy got lost in the forest.

The territory of the forest is divided into squares, each of them is checked. The headquarters say that the searchers have covered the maximum distance that the boy could cover in this time. Helicopters and drones with a thermal imager are still involved in the search. The search continues.

5. The main danger in the forest

According to the coordinator of the Angel squad Christina Basova, who twice went to Novy Dvor to look for Maxim, the most dangerous thing for the boy is wild animals, impenetrable swamps and the weather itself.

“During these days we met bison, and a wolf, and wild boars, and a roe deer, says Christina. — The week was rainy, wet and cold. It’s all very difficult even for a trained adult.”.

6. What people say

Locals say that the boy was prepared and could not just disappear into the forest. Many of the townspeople believe that bison could scare him, and admit that he is simply hiding there.

True, the same locals add that similar cases had never happened before in their village. They say that the village children know well where to go and where not to go. They say about Maxim that he would not go anywhere with strangers, and even more so, he would not go anywhere.

7. Large-scale search operation

The operation to search for Maxim was called the largest in Belarus.

A week after the disappearance of Maxim in Belarus, the gathering of all search and rescue teams was announced. Over the weekend, several thousand people took part in the search for the boy. In addition to police officers, military personnel, border guards, police officers, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, people from all over Belarus, volunteers from the Smolensk region and Lithuania, came to Novy Dvor.

8. Unthinkable number of volunteers

The largest number of search engines was observed on weekends. According to official figures, more than 2,000 volunteers came to Novy Dvor on Saturday. Experts noted that many people had no experience at all in such operations, sometimes they simply did not know how to behave and what to do.

Nevertheless, everyone was divided into groups, each of which received its own search square.

Volunteers say they walked through the forest and swamps for 10 hours, sometimes in the rain. But no trace of Maxim was found by anyone. The coordinator of the Angel squad, Kristina Basova, despite various shortcomings in the organization, believes that the search is being carried out at the highest level.

“Yes, at the beginning there were problems and there was not even a single coordinating point where information from all search groups would flow. But in a very short time, specialists managed to streamline coordination and send people to search activities. Managed to feed people, warm and give a place to rest. Everyone participated in this. It's just that people were actually motivated to find Maxim," Basova said.

According to Christina, those who could not come and help in the search transferred money to the detachment's settlement account. And that, she says, is also a big help.

9. Can a child survive in the forest for that long?

Angel Squad Coordinator Kirill Golubev, who is currently coordinating the work in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, says that the likelihood that the boy is alive is real. According to him, there were cases when a four-year-old child disappeared into the taiga and survived for 10 days.

“We assume the boy is still alive. The search continues, no new traces of Maxim have been found, but we believe and are looking for, ”says Kirill Golubev.

The commander of the "Angel" detachment, Sergei Kovgan, said that the operation has the status of a search and rescue operation.

“The fact is that now in the forest there is especially nothing to eat. I understand that a hunter could still get food for himself, but he is not a hunter, he is only a teenager, and it is hard to imagine what he could eat here,” says Kovgan.