Search operations have been completed in the Kharkiv Epicenter hypermarket — 19 people died there, including a 17-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. Another 54 people were injured.
This was announced by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko.
Telegram / Олег Синєгубов
The police identified all 19 bodies of the dead. It was not easy, Klymenko noted — with the help of special equipment, the bodies were searched around the clock among the ashes, and then quickly identified with the help of a DNA laboratory.
Forensic scientists have conducted more than 100 studies. 16 relatives of the missing persons contacted the police and provided biological samples for examination. Canine experts were also involved in the work — a service dog found one body and one fragment.
Hit on "Epicenter"
On May 25, around 1:50 p.m., the Russians launched airstrikes on Kharkiv. That day, there were four series of shelling in the city, the first of which hit the Epicenter hypermarket. The hypermarket announced that it would pay one million hryvnias in compensation to the families of the deceased employees. Also , Epicenter will pay 10,000 hryvnias per month to families with minor children until they reach 18 years of age.
Investigators found unexploded ammunition almost 80 meters from the construction hypermarket. If it had detonated, the number of victims would have been much higher.