Press releases

MINSK, 8 November (BelTA) – Belarusian rescue workers claimed first, second, and third place at the Vertical Challenge competition to climb St. Petersburg’s tallest building, BelTA learned from the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry.

Alexander Klyuiko, a specialist of the Minsk Department of the Emergencies Ministry, won the men’s Vertical Challenge competition for the second year in a row. He climbed up 145 meters in 4m 47s, beating his last year’s score by 10 seconds. The Belarusian trained really hard for the race: he regularly practiced climbing the tallest building in Minsk.

The participants had to hit 39 floors (936 steps, or 145 vertical meters) in full kit with respiratory protection equipment. “The competition gathered over 200 professional firefighters and rescue workers from 14 Russian regions, and also personnel of the Minsk Department of the Belarusian Emergencies Ministry who swept the podium,” the ministry noted.

Olga Kontanistova, a radiotelephone operator of a Moscow fire station, finished first in the women’s competition with a time of 10m 45s.