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A young couple died holding hands crossing the road after a “drunk” driver smashed into them on a pedestrian crossing. Anastasia Zharchenko, 19, and Daniil Sokratov, 22, were just weeks away from getting married when the Cadillac Escalade SUV smashed into them and dragged the pair 700ft.
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The horror incident occurred in a town near Moscow, and was captured on a motorway monitoring camera. Anastasia died from terrible injuries at the scene and her husband-to-be Daniil passed away from a brain bleed in the ambulance, according to Russian media reports.
A pathologist, who banned the victim’s relatives from seeing the bodies, said that all their bones were shattered. Video from a camera overlooking the crossing shows Anatasia and Daniil holding hands whilst walking across the motorway. They make it to the far side of the busy road when an SUV zooms into shot at high speed.
The heavy car is said to have dragged them 700 feet along the tarmac before the driver was able to slow down. Local media reports name the driver as Vitaliy Kaliberda, 27, and say he tried to flee the scene when he realised what he had done. Appalled witnesses reportedly stopped the man from fleeing and handed him over to police amid claims he was drunk at the scene.
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One source says the Escalade was travelling at well over 100mph and the tragic couple stood no chance of survival despite paramedics arriving within minutes. Daniil’s mother Ludmila Sokratova told local media: ''They dreamed of living together and made plans for the future. 'There is nothing now. No plans. No life.''
The pair were buried together on Monday. Police have launched a criminal case for “causing the death of two or more persons by negligence”. Police spokeswoman Irina Volk commented: ''The driver of the vehicle has been detained.'' A probe to determine if the suspect was drunk during the accident is underway. He faces up to seven years in prison if found guilty.
