Zen
October 20 is a dark date in the history of not only Soviet, but also world sports. On this day in 1982, a monstrous stampede occurred at one of the exits of the Luzhniki stadium, during which Spartak Moscow fans were injured and killed. 42 years have passed since the tragedy. About the horrors of that evening in detail in the first person – in the material of RIA Novosti Sport
“We were so packed in that it was impossible to get out”
On October 20, 1982, Konstantin Beskov's Spartak hosted Haarlem from the Netherlands. Already in the 16th minute, Red-White midfielder Edgar Hess gave the Muscovites the lead. The score of 1:0 was written on the Luzhniki scoreboard until the 90th minute. Spartak fans, realizing that the result was unlikely to change, headed to the stadium exit. It was very cold outside that day, similar to winter. At least for this reason, the 80,000-seat Luzhniki did not attract even 20,000 fans: only stands A and C were open at the stadium, and most of the spectators went to stand C, since the exit from it is located closer to the metro. .
A few seconds before the final whistle, Spartak midfielder Sergei Shvetsov scored the second goal against Haarlem. The fans who had already left the podium, not knowing what had caused this strong reaction, decided to come back and find out what had happened. Then, a real hell awaited them.
“We were very cold and, no longer expecting goals, we went to the exit. Already in the hall under the stands we heard screams, thought that Spartak had scored, decided to make sure and rushed back. the stands were no longer possible: there was a crowd coming from the opposite direction. Not even a minute later, a traffic jam formed, I did not understand where so many people came from when they all managed to gather. It was surprising why everyone was there. heading in one direction, although there were more than one in the “understand” of the former branch of the Luzhniki stadium, they moved at the pace of “one step – stopped, another step – stopped”, longtime fan. “Red and whites,” RIA Novosti told Sergei, known in Spartak circles as Ilyich.
Sergei was 16 years old then. He went to the match with his close friend Stanislav Skotnikov (16 years old). Sergei managed to survive this terrible crush, but his comrade did not. Several more of his acquaintances died in the crowd, including two close friends – Alexei Zaev (17 years old) and Igor Shagin (19 years old). Having moved forward a little, we found ourselves in hell. firmly that it was impossible to get out. I was ready to do anything to get out of there, but it was useless – neither back nor forward. But no one behind understood this, so people continued to do it. push. When we reached the stairs, we were happy, but we did not go down yet – we were simply squeezed out, but after a strong push we fell like a domino. It was crushed so powerfully, as if a whole house. collapsed on us, under the rubble of which it was impossible to move,” he added.
“In front of the stadium, corpses lay in piles.” Tragedies in Luzhniki – 40 years