The mayor of Makhachkala's reaction to people falling into a canal outraged Telegram users.

The mayor of Makhachkala praised the passersby who came to the aid of passengers in a taxi that fell into the October Revolution Canal and promised to investigate the cause of the incident. Cars carrying passengers have fallen into the canal on numerous occasions, but authorities have failed to address the issue, according to Telegram users. The driver said the taxi slipped into the water due to icy conditions.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on January 24, a car carrying passengers fell into the October Revolution Canal in Makhachkala. Passersby came to the aid of the passenger and child. According to the prosecutor's office, the driver was able to escape on his own.

Taxi driver Nurislam Ramazanov said he was taking a mother and child to the hospital, but the road was not cleared of ice. He said he was traveling at approximately 40-50 km/h and lost control of the vehicle when he attempted to avoid a vehicle that was blocking the road. As a result, the taxi slid into the canal, REN TV reported on its Telegram channel.

"The child was the first to exit through the window. The guys caught him. The child, you could say, wasn't wet because there was no water inside. The child was dry," Ramazanov was quoted as saying.

He wanted to jump into the water to pull the child out.

He explained that he deliberately kept the doors closed to prevent water from rushing in. He said one of the passengers involved in the rescue asked if there were any children in the car. "When I said yes, he started undressing and wanted to jump into the water to pull the child out," the driver said.

Makhachkala Mayor Dzhambulat Salavov responded to the incident on January 25 on his Telegram channel. "The caring people who risked their own well-being to save a small child and his mother deserve our deepest respect. We are already conducting an investigation with the relevant authorities to determine the cause of the incident and the car crash, and we will take all necessary measures to prevent similar incidents," he wrote.

Fences should have been installed there long ago.

Comments on the post criticized officials for failing to address the issue. "After all the years of car crashes, they should have installed barriers there long ago, dividing them into several sections," wrote a user with a nickname consisting of a period.

"There are huge potholes along the ditch, so icy that sand trucks can't get through. That's why a car with a child fell. Dear Mayor, sort this out," demanded Santa Claus.

All talk, no action, put up a fence already.

"The entire KOR needs to be surrounded by blocks. This isn't the first time a car has fallen there. It's high time to fence the KOR," declared abidat. "All talk, no action. Just build a fence already. How long can cars keep flying in there?" the Cuba Parliament was indignant.

As a reminder, car crashes into the KOR have occurred repeatedly. For example, on February 4, 2024, a car driven by a 23-year-old Makhachkala resident fell into the Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya Canal. Two passengers, children aged 10 and 14, were taken to the hospital in serious condition, where one of them died. Following this, authorities reported installing concrete barriers along the most dangerous sections of the canal. Social media users pointed out that the barriers should have been installed before a tragedy and along the entire length of the canal within the city limits.

A car also fell into the canal on February 15, 2022. Instagram users* pointed out then that this was happening due to the lack of fences along the canal and the narrow roadway.

On January 11, 2020, a car carrying a family with a four-year-old child fell into the canal. They were helped out of the water by a passing officer police.

On December 24, 2014, a 25-year-old driver and his passenger died in a similar accident. On October 5 of the same year, a Gazelle passenger van fell from a bridge into the canal. The driver and two passengers survived.

In Makhachkala, it is impossible to install fences along the canal because access to the water body cannot be blocked, the director of the Housing and Utilities Monitoring Department stated after another accident in February 2022.

By law, the area next to the housing and utilities monitoring center is a nature conservation zone, and fences cannot be installed there, Ziyautdin Uvaisov, head of the Housing and Utilities Monitoring Department, explained to the Caucasian Knot in February 2024. "I don't know what the right way out of this situation is; there needs to be a comprehensive solution," he said.