Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
At least eight Russians working on the Rooppur nuclear power plant under construction in Ishwardi have died in one year and 17 in three years. From February last year to February 15 this year, 8 people died in one year. Although this period is one year, most of these deaths occurred between last September and 6 February, i.e. six months. In the three years from April 6, 2019 to February 15, 2022, a total of 17 deaths occurred. Among them are Russians, Belarusians and Kazakhs.
However, in the 12 days from January 26 to February 6, there was a storm of writing in the media of Bangladesh and Russia about the death of 5 people. According to the police, the death of 8 people in one year was a coincidence. While most have died of heart attacks, some have cited climate change, eating habits, lockdowns and loneliness as reasons.
Ishwardi Police Station Officer-in-Charge Asaduzzaman Asad said the deaths were a coincidence. Two of them died in the accident. Alexei Pichugin died on the night of September 15 while smoking a cigarette in his Green City apartment. On November 14, Sergei Igorov was taken to hospital after feeling ill. The doctor on duty declared him dead. The postmortem report states that they died of a heart attack. On December 3, Badrijan Konirbayev, a Kazakh citizen, died when he was crushed under a pecudar while working on a project. Maxim Shakirav slept in his flat at night and never woke up in the morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene on January 26 after suffering a heart attack. On January 26, Alexei Barchenka fell ill and was taken to hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. Although the autopsy initially said he had a heart attack, Visera was sent to Rajshahi for a report. On January 5, two people were killed. Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Talmachev slipped and fell from a 14-story building. Another, Pavel Chukin, lived with his family. He had heart problems for a long time. Most recently, Alexander Varotnikov died of a brain haemorrhage. He regularly took herbal medicines. The doctors working on the project said that he died in response to the herbal medicine. The OC further said that these foreigners have been living alone for a long time leaving their families behind. Due to the tax situation, restrictions have been imposed on their movement. Even though they used to go out, now they are not allowed to go to the market.
Regarding the recent death, Dr Sharmin Swapna, head of the forensic department at Pabna Medical College, said the viscera had been sent to Rajshahi for post-mortem report. The exact cause of death will be known when the viceroy reports.
