DUSHANBE, May 16, 2016, Asia-Plus — Three people were killed and two dozen were wounded on Saturday in a mass brawl at Moscow”s largest cemetery that was reportedly sparked by rivalry between ethnic groups battling for control of the burial service business.
According to Russian media outlets, about 200 people, some armed with guns and other weapons, took part in the clashes at the vast Khovanskoye cemetery in southwest Moscow and more than 90 people were detained after riot police broke up the brawl.
Moscow”s city health department said three people were killed and 23 were hospitalized, four of whom were seriously injured.
The
RIA
news agency quoted a cemetery official as saying people from Russia”s North Caucasus regions of Chechnya and Dagestan had attacked migrants from ex-Soviet Uzbekistan and Tajikistan working there, attempting to take over their jobs.
With Russia”s economy battered by Western sanctions and low prices for its oil exports, migrants struggle to find work and ethnic criminal groups add to social tensions, according to
Reuters
.
Quoting a police source,
TASS
news agency said ethnic Chechens, Dagestanis, Uzbeks and Tajiks were among those detained.
The police reportedly recovered from the scene a Kalashnikov rifle, 51 empty cartridge cases of varying caliber, knuckles, knives, axes, sticks and metal pieces.
Tajikistan”s Interior Ministry will send to Moscow its top expert in battling organized crime to help investigate the incident, Russian news agencies quoted Russian police spokeswoman Irina Volk as saying.
According to some media outlets, a 22-year-old Tajik man, who effectively lived at the cemetery, died from a gunshot wound in the chest. A 42-year-old migrant and an unidentified man died after being run over by a vehicle, he said. There are no other deaths, according to the sources.
Twenty-six people have been hospitalized after the brawl, half of them with firearm injuries, a source inside medical circles told
Interfax
.
Police have launched a criminal inquiry into the incident on charges of two or more murders by an organized group, illicit trafficking of firearms, and premeditated hooliganism, (Articles 105, 222 and 213 of the Russian Criminal Code, respectively), the source said.
The Tajik Embassy in Moscow on May 14 sent a note to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for providing information about participation of Tajik nationals in the Saturday’s clashes and taking measures to protect rights and interests of Tajik nationals.
Reuters
reports that Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Twitter account that none of those responsible would go unpunished.
