Moscow metro victims need professional help

Official mourning was declared in Moscow on Tuesday as the city deplores the tragedy in the Moscow metro. Three carriages crashed on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line between the Slavyansky Bulvar and Park Podedy stations. Investigators believe the catastrophe was caused by an accident and rule out any possibility of a terrorist attack. 21 people from 12 regions of Russia as well as from Ukraine, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan died in the crash.

According to the head of the Serbsky State Research Centre for Social and Judicial Psychiatry, Zurab Kekelidze, the increase in emergencies is caused by the development of society. "It is caused by the greenhouse effect, the population increase and expansion of new technologies. Some believe that development of new technology will ease maintenance, but in fact it has quite the opposite effect and the number of catastrophes is on the increase. As a result, people lose their loved ones. It concerns everyone, the whole country," he said.

"In a state of emergency people feel stressed. It is a psychiatric condition, not a serious one, but an actual psychiatric condition. Of course in such cases people need professional help. Moreover, such help should be provided not only to the direct victim, but also to his or her closest relatives," he explained.

According to Kekelidze, it is crucial to support those who didn't see the tragedy on site, but were still shocked by the news. "It is very important to cover the news in a proper way. No one should think that the authorities are hiding something, but the coverage should be adequate. No one should receive a psychological trauma as a result of media coverage. People who have actually survived such tragedies actually feel safe afterwards. They feel comfortable, but their relatives are shocked and seek help. So do people who heard about the tragedy and were overwhelmed by the news. However, the actual victims may also experience discomfort such as insomnia, for instance, a couple of days after the tragedy. During this period they also need special care," he said.