Passengers on "Lviv–Chernivtsi" train were left in field after being evacuated due to threat of shelling: Lubinets responds. VIDEO
The "Lviv–Chernivtsi" train departed without 25 passengers, who had been evacuated from the carriages due to the threat of Russian shelling. The train did not wait for them after the all-clear was given. The Ombudsman’s Office has sent a letter to "Ukrzaliznytsia" to investigate the circumstances.
This was reported by Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, according to Censor.NET.
What is known?
According to Lubinets, the passengers left the carriages due to the danger of shelling and waited for the all-clear, but then saw that their train had set off without them.
He says this happened just 10 seconds after the all-clear. The passengers found themselves in the middle of a field. As he notes, a video of the outraged passengers is circulating online.
"10 seconds after the all-clear – and the train left without 25 passengers. Ukrzaliznytsia, how on earth does this work?" wrote Lubinets.
The Ombudsman emphasises: if there is a threat, passengers are evacuated from the carriages, and once the threat has passed, people should return and continue their journey.
"But between these two stages, it seems the most important thing has been overlooked – the passengers themselves," he writes.
Lubinets acknowledged that during the war, the railways are operating under exceptional circumstances, and thanked the staff of Ukrzaliznytsia. At the same time, in his view, coordination in such situations must be flawless: "Safety cannot depend on the timetable, nor can the timetable take precedence over the people for whose sake the train is running in the first place."
He also noted that passengers had plans, connections and things to do, and that the problem could have been avoided "by simply checking: has everyone returned?".
What the Ombudsman’s Office is doing
- Lubinets said he had sent a letter to Ukrzaliznytsia to find out exactly what had happened and whether all 25 passengers had eventually been taken to their destination. He hopes that the passengers have now reached their intended destination.
According to him, it is not enough simply to explain that someone failed to coordinate; the approach itself must be changed so that, after the next emergency, no one has to check whether their train has left without them.
"If the safety system only worked halfway, that is not a successful evacuation. This is a problem that needs to be resolved," the Ombudsman concluded.
