On Dec.1, gymnastics coach Karina Shvaetska, who worked in a newly built youth sports school called Favorite Fit in Vyshneve, a southwestern Kyiv suburb with 35,000 people, heard strange sounds and decided to take 30 children out of the gym.
After less than two minutes, the roof collapsed.
The crashed remains covered 200 square meters, one third of the whole building, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Oleksandr Pylypenko, a judo coach, also helped Shvaetska to evacuate children, information agency Poglyad reported.
“Horror! It is simply impossible to imagine! 3 and 4 years old kids were in the gym – 30 little girls and 2 coaches! Our coach managed to get the kids out in seconds before the collapse,” said Maryna Hertz, a mother of a girl coached by Shvaetska.
Built in eight months and opened on May 19, 2018, Favorite Fit was supposed to train future athletes in judo, taekwondo, boxing, rhythmic gymnastics and fencing.
“Fortunately, and most importantly, nobody was hurt. Thanks to the rapid reaction of coaches, athletes who were doing gymnastics at that time were able to leave the building,” said Ihor Zhdanov, Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.
Zhdanov is sure that the Favorite Fit’s roof collapsed due to the snowfall.
Kyiv Oblast police have already detained the director of the firm that built the sports school. If criminal negligence is found, the person could be imprisoned for up to 12 years if convicted.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman expressed his anger.
“Over Hr 17 million ($650,000) of budget funds were spent last year on this construction,” Groysman said. “The term for investigation is a week. All the guilty must be prosecuted.”
