22 December 2023 , 15:49
1031
0
A Father Christmas fell to his death from the top of a high-rise building in front of shocked children as a stunt went tragically wrong.
The climber, dressed as the Russian Santa Claus known as Grandfather Frost, had intended to climb down the building on ropes and greet the youngsters below as a magical surprise. Instead, those gathered around the Christmas tree below including his own child and partner, watched in horror as he fell more than 240ft to his death in the Russian city Chelyabinsk.
Many thought the fall was part of the act and did not realise he had died right away. Reports say the tragedy happened when he mixed up his safety ropes.
An eyewitness said: "My son didn’t understand anything, others understood and they left in hysterics. All the parents, naturally, are in shock.”
Another said: “Everyone was having fun, and no-one could even think this would happen. I thought until the last minute that it was some kind of dummy, that it was a prank. The festivities carried on. There was at first no suspicion that this was a tragedy.”
Missing radioactive capsule found after huge search - and it's the size of a pea
The man fell more than 240ft to his death (Social media/east2west news)The residential management company which staged the event apologised for the incident and said the climber was an “experienced specialist”. They said in a statement: "Today’s holiday turned into a monstrous misfortune. An industrial climber dressed as Grandfather Frost [Santa Claus] fell while descending from his house and died.
“The company said: “We will do everything in our power to help the police understand the reasons and never allow this to happen again.”
People at first had not realised the accident had meant to happen (Social media/east2west news)A resident said: “My husband and son were there. There were many witnesses there, including children. For now, no-one knows why he fell. Climbers wash the windows in our apartment block - and there has never been a single emergency.”
In the wake of the tragedy, Russian state investigators arrived at the scene and are looking into the circumstances and if there was a possible violation of safety rules. The dead man’s age was variously reported as 35 and 25.