President posthumously awards minor who died in Vake Park electrocution incident
The Presidential Administration said Meparishvili had been awarded for “self-sacrifice, humanity and special civic responsibility [in her attempt] to save her friends during the tragic accident”. Photo: president.ge.
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President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili on Thursday posthumously awarded Marita Meparishvili, the 13-year-old who died from injuries sustained in an electrocution incident in Tbilisi’s Vake Park recreational area in October, with the state Medal for Civic Dedication.
The Presidential Administration said Meparishvili had been awarded for “self-sacrifice, humanity and special civic responsibility [in her attempt] to save her friends during the tragic accident”.
Photo: president.ge
Park custodian Devi Mezurnishvili, who rescued two other minors from the fountain in the Park where the three received electric shocks from an exposed wire left in the water following a recent renovation of the area, also received the Medal.
Photo: president.ge
The three minors were injured as they were trying to retrieve a ball that had fallen into the water, with Meparishvili dying from her injuries shortly after.
Nine individuals, including the Deputy Head of Tbilisi City Hall’s Environmental Protection Service, were arrested following an investigation into circumstances of the incident, with charges of violation of safety regulations, professional neglect, incitement to forgery, forgery of official documents and use of forged documentation filed as part of the inquiry.
UNICEF Georgia on Monday called on national and local authorities in Georgia to work with professionals, civil and private sector representatives to make cities fit and safe for children, in response to the deadly electrocution incident in Tbilisi’s Vake Park earlier this month that killed one minor and left two others injured.
Giga Gigashvili, the head of the Tbilisi city hall environmental protection service, on Wednesday announced his resignation following the arrest of his deputy, along with eight others, on charges of professional neglect that claimed the life of one minor and injured two others in an electrocution incident in the city’s Vake Park last week.
The Georgian law enforcement on Tuesday arrested nine individuals, including the deputy head of Tbilisi city hall’s environmental protection service, following its investigation into the deadly electrocution incident in the city’s central Vake Park last week that claimed the life of one minor and injured two others.
An employee in the ecological service of Tbilisi’s Vake Park recreational area has been receiving nationwide praise since Thursday for rescuing two minors from the park’s fountain after three of them got electrocuted in the water.
Eight of the nine individuals arrested following the electrocution incident in Tbilisi’s central Vake Park in October 2022 that killed a 13-year-old and injured two others were on Monday sentenced to prison on several charges.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has launched an investigation into the death of a 15-year-old following an incident in Tskneti, a holiday settlement on the outskirts of capital Tbilisi, on Tuesday.