05.04.2009 00:28 | The Mother and Her Daughter Died of Burns

Raisa Tskhovrebova and her daughter Ellina Kadzhaeva lived in a private house on Sanakoeva St., Shanghai area. As their neighbours say, Raisa was about 55 years old, Ellina was 26 years old.

Misery came to their life in the middle of Nineties when the householder, Raisa`s husband Kavkaz was killed by Georgians near village Ergneti.

But before they recover from loss, Raisa`s son Soslan was killed too. Raisa and Ellina were very cut up by their death. In recent years Raisa was out of work.  

Ellina was the employee of the Committee of State and Economic Safety of RSO.

As their neigbours Alla Gassieva and Ella Tekhova said, during the bombardment of Tskhinval by Georgian gunners, Raisa together with her daughter and the brother, who came from Nogir, were hiding in the inspection pit in a court yard of their house. They had no basement in the house. “On August, 9 the next massive bombardment of our area started. The shelling was from the direction of the Georgian village Nikozi. At 11:30 several shells simultaneously hit Kadzhaev`s house, later the expert examination established that it had been the shells of “Grad” rocket system.

There was a petrol tank in the inspection pit, where Raisa, her brother and Ellina were taking cover. It exploded at once and the flame covered everybody. Raisa, who had been the nearest to a petrol tank, was badly burnt. She shielded her daughter, sitting next by, with her body, but all the same Ellina was badly burnt too. Raisa`s brother was sitting in a distance and suffered to a lesser degree. The neighbours heard their shouting and came over to help them”, - Alla and Ella say. Natasha Dzhagaeva, the retiree, was the first, who came to their rescue. Her house is across the street. She tried to smother the fire, but was badly burnt too.

Burnt Raisa and Ellina, and also suffered Natasha were transferred to a basement of the neighbour Elbrus Valiev, it was more safety there. “It was horrible to look at them, especially at Raisa, - Ella and Alla continue. - We didn’t know what to do, someone gave them debilitants, we tried to find preparations, but unsuccessfully. “Emergency” did not answer and there wasn’t opportunity to go Shanghai. We could take them to a hospital by ourselves but Georgian tanks and infantry entered our area from the direction of Nikozi and the snipers were everywhere. It was dangerous to come out.

The sufferers constantly asked for water to drink. Ellina, probably, got carbon monoxide poisoning, she lived through the night only and died. We didn’t tell to the mothers about her daughter’s death. Not hearing her voice any more she asked all the time: “What’s happened to my daughter? Why doesn’t she say anything? Where is she?” Raisa was lying next to her daughter’s body, but could not see her, she went blind, her face swelled”.

In the afternoon of August, 10 when the city was cleared of enemy soldiers, Raisa and Natasha were taken to Vladikavkaz. In three days they were conveyed to Moscow. In Moscow hospital Raisa spent two weeks in a state of coma and then she died. Natasha Dzhagaeva undergoes a course of medical treatment in Moscow. As we know, the status of patient is unsatisfactory.

The relatives buried Raisa and Ellina in Nogir.

From the whole, in the old days happy family nobody stayed alive. “Raisa and Ellina were good people. It is hard to feel they are no more”, - neighbors say regretfully.

Sergey Gazaev

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva