P128, Sēmes Parish, LV-3110, Latvia
On the morning of August 15, 1990, Tsoi got up around five o'clock, quietly left the house, gathered his fishing rods, and, as planned, went fishing. He was seen off by his second wife, Natalia. According to her, Tsoi was lively and cheerful that morning, in a great mood — the work on the album had been successfully completed. The day of August 15 was sultry, as it often is before rain. Around 11 a.m., after fishing at a forest lake for about five hours, Tsoi headed home. The fishing trip was successful — several roaches in a plastic bag lay in the car trunk.
At the 35th kilometer, near the bridge over the Teitupė River, there is a turn. A lonely one-story house, nicknamed "Teitupnieki" in the area, stands very close to the turn. Not reaching it, for unclear reasons, Tsoi drove onto the oncoming lane. At that moment, an "Ikarus-250" bus suddenly appeared from around the bend...
The owner of the "Teitupnieki" house, Antonina Urbane, seeing the disaster, sent her grandson Kolya Zvonikov to call an ambulance by phone. The clock showed 11:40 a.m.
Artur Neymanis, who was one of the witnesses to the accident, later told in an interview with the program "Matador": "When my wife and I were near the road by our house, a car, a brand-new 'Moskvich,' passed by us at high speed. I told my wife that this guy probably wouldn’t make the turn. It’s a very sharp turn on the little bridge. There’s the Teitupė River. As I said, there was a sound like a cannon shot. We looked at the road: the car was in the middle of the asphalt, and the brand-new 'Ikarus' was on the left side in the river. When we approached, the driver was already dead."
A call from a local resident was received by the Tukums duty station at 11:30. Investigator Erika Kazimirovna Ashmane and senior traffic police inspector of the Tukums District Department, senior police lieutenant Janis Elmarovich Peterson, went to the scene at the 35th kilometer of the Sloka–Tāļi road.
The arriving police officers saw the following scene: on the bridge, on the right side across the road, stood a "Moskvich-2141" (license plate YA 68–32 MM) with a smashed front end. Next to the car, a young dark-haired man was lying, barely extracted from the cabin by the doctors of the ambulance that had arrived earlier. Without a doubt, he died instantly. To the right, with its front wheels in the shallow Teitupė River, stood a white "Ikarus" bus.
The bus belonged to the Talsi branch of Latvian "Selkhoztekhnika." The driver, a first-class driver, was ferrying the empty bus back to the base from the airport, where he had taken tourists after finishing minor engine repairs. According to documents found in the "Moskvich," the driver's name was established as Viktor Robertovich Tsoi. The medics could only certify the death and send the body for forensic examination.
The exact speed of the "Moskvich" could not be determined, but it was undoubtedly no less than 100 kilometers per hour. This was evidenced by the position of the car after the collision and the engine parts scattered far to the side.
As the investigation would show, the car was thrown 22 meters backward from the collision site, and engine fragments scattered within a radius of 12–15 meters. Only the rear part of Tsoi's car cabin remained intact. The odometer stopped at 3,400 kilometers. The car was beyond repair...
There were dents and skid marks on the asphalt, making it easy to determine the collision point and reconstruct the accident. All parameters and data were immediately recorded in the protocol, and a primary inspection diagram of the scene was drawn up.
The road to the Dreimani farmstead is straight and even. The speed limit on this road is 90 kilometers per hour. Closer to the bridge, the road narrows. Then comes a dangerous turn. It is clear that the driver must reduce speed here, which Tsoi did not do, indicating a loss of orientation. The traffic police officers did not find any brake marks from the "Moskvich" on the sharp turn. Studying the tire tread marks, the investigators concluded that for at least the last 233.6 meters (about seven seconds of driving) before the accident, Tsoi was driving on the right shoulder of the road for some reason. The tread mark from the right wheel of his "Moskvich" was noted on the right shoulder 21 meters before the bridge, from the bus stop "pocket." It was curved. Eleven and a half meters after the bridge, the mark sharply left the shoulder onto the paved part of the road toward the collision point. No braking marks were found. Whether Tsoi fell asleep at the wheel or was lost in thought — no one will ever know. The official investigation established that "...the 'Moskvich-2141' touched the bridge railing post, after which it skidded and was thrown onto the oncoming lane under the wheels of the 'Ikarus-250,' and then, after the collision with the bus, was thrown back toward the bridge railings."
The front bumper of the "Ikarus" passed over the hood of the "Moskvich" straight into the cabin; the steering wheel on the driver's side was bent, seats were knocked down, and the dashboard was broken. The inspection established that the impact was from left to right, front to back. The car's instrument panel crashed into the front row of seats, pinning the driver to the seat...
The "Ikarus-250" (license plate 05–18 VRN) stood on the left side of the bridge, its front end stuck in the river. The bus driver, Janis Karlovich Fibiks, born in 1946 (driving since 1970), suffered minor bruises and was unharmed. According to him (confirmed by the investigation), to avoid the collision, he tried to drive onto the shoulder himself, but the car's speed was too high. The impact was so strong that the bulky, heavy bus was thrown at an angle of 45–50 degrees to the side and its front wheels went into the Teitupė River.
From the GAI forensic examination report No. 480: "On August 15, 1990, at the beginning of the 12th hour, the sun was already shining strongly, the temperature was about 28 degrees Celsius. Visibility was limited at that time, the asphalt was dry. The speed of the 'Moskvich-2141' at the moment of collision was at least 100 km/h. The speed of the 'Ikarus-250' bus did not exceed 70 km/h. The collision occurred 12 meters from the bridge over the Teitupė River. After the collision, the 'Moskvich-2141' was thrown and hit the bridge railing."
And time went on... The day was in full swing. Not having waited for Viktor's return from fishing, Natalia became worried. Soon it became completely clear to her that something serious had happened and she needed to immediately start searching. Leaving little Alexander with her friend and her children, she set off on a "Delta" moped with her son to look for Viktor and on the way saw the "Ikarus" standing front-first in the river. At the hospital, Natasha and Alexei were informed that the driver of the "Moskvich-2141" had died. Passing through Tukums, near the police department building, they saw Viktor's mangled car...
Alexei Makushinsky: "If I’m not mistaken, we were told about the accident at the hospital. Tsoi crashed just before the intersection of two highways: the Tāļi–Riga highway, which he was driving on, and the Engure–Tukums highway... The investigator immediately told us that the bus driver was a 'first-class driver' and that he was not at fault. That is, she immediately stated the investigation’s position. But we didn’t care. Whoever was to blame, Viktor was not coming back. I don’t think anyone really got involved in this case or sought meetings with that driver (but I might not know everything). After visiting the police department, we returned to Plienciems.
We had to somehow tell the children and friends about what happened..."
Erika Ashmane, investigator: "On August 15, 1990, at 11:30, as part of the operational group, I went to the scene on the Sloka–Tāļi road, 35th kilometer. At the scene, the inquiry established that the driver of the 'Moskvich-2141' car — Viktor Robertovich Tsoi — lost control of the vehicle and drove onto the left side of the road, where he collided with the 'Ikarus-250' bus. Tsoi died at the scene from 'severe blunt head trauma, brain contusion, and multiple body fractures.' In my subjective opinion, Tsoi dozed off at the wheel. The weather contributed to this. He was returning from a forest lake, where he had been fishing since six in the morning. It was about fourteen kilometers from the collision site. He was driving at high speed. And from around the bend, a bus came out at 60–70 kilometers per hour, which he did not notice. Undoubtedly, Tsoi greatly exceeded the speed limit, and my opinion is: even if there had been no bus, he would still have crashed into the trees on the turn. Although the impact would have been weaker, of course."
Meanwhile, a service telegram was received in Moscow.
"Service. Moscow, USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs: On August 15 of this year, at 11:30, at the 35th km of the Sloka–Tāļi road in the Tukums district of Latvia, the driver of the 'Moskvich' car, license plate YA 6832 MM, Viktor Robertovich Tsoi, born 1962, resident of Leningrad, Veterans Avenue 99, apt. 101, vacationing in Jūrmala, a well-known pop singer, exceeded the speed limit, drove into the oncoming lane, where he collided with an oncoming 'Selkhoztekhnika' bus from the Talsi district, license plate 0518 VRN. V.R. Tsoi died at the scene. Acting Minister of Internal Affairs of Latvia Indrikov. Signed Abramovskaya."
Several hours later, "Mayak" radio broadcast: "...today, around noon, in Latvia, Viktor Tsoi tragically died in a car accident..." It was from the "Mayak" news of their son's death that his parents, Robert Maksimovich and Valentina Vasilievna Tsoi, who were vacationing at their dacha, learned. At first, they did not believe it. Only after calling Maryana did they realize the terrible truth...
Inna Nikolaevna Golubeva: "I was informed about his death by Kasparyan’s mother. She couldn’t speak properly, sobbing interrupted her; she started three times and couldn’t get it out... I asked, 'Who is it, who?' And then she told me. She was informed by Natalia Razlogova’s mother, who had called from Tukums. Of course, the first question was: 'How is Sasha?' Sasha was fine... I quickly grabbed the phone book and started looking for Maryana. But they had gone visiting somewhere. Kasparyan, when he arrived, also went visiting... No one was there... In the end, when we found them, they hurriedly gathered and left there..."
Marina Tikhomirova: "The phone rang. I picked up the receiver. I heard a mechanical, unrecognizable voice: 'This is Maryana. Today at noon near Tukums, Tsoi crashed.' I didn’t understand what I heard. I asked again. Each time the information was repeated with deadly brevity. When the meaning sank in, I slid down the wall to the floor and started howling out loud..."
Yuri Kasparyan: "I left Plienciems on the night of the 14th to the 15th, arrived in St. Petersburg around 6 a.m., and went to sleep. I woke up at one or two and went to visit on Kamennoostrovsky. And there, the frantic Maryasha called me with this terrible news..."
Maryana Tsoi: "Yurik arrived around August 13 from the Baltics, where he was with Vitya. And then this terrible news came... Half an hour later, we were already leaving Leningrad, filled up with gas..."
Igor Tikhomirov: "Of course, Viktor’s death was a deadly blow for us. I remember coming back from vacation, entering the house. A rehearsal was scheduled for the next day. And then — a phone call. We rushed there by car, holding on to hope until the last minute: maybe everything was okay... I won’t try to describe those terrible minutes. Of course, we were not up to anything."
Kasparyan with Maryana and Igor Tikhomirov with his wife arrived in Plienciems only by the morning of August 16, still hoping until the last moment that it was all some cruel joke. And a day later, as Maryana recalled, they "already left there, taking Vitya with them..."
The next day, all radio stations of the Soviet Union and the TV programs "Vremya" and "TSN" reported Tsoi’s death. This tragic event was not hushed up, unlike the deaths of Vysotsky, Bashlachev, and many others.
In the evening edition of the program "Vremya," the announcer’s dry words sounded across the country: "Hello, comrades. Sad news came today from Latvia, where the famous rock musician, founder of the popular group 'KINO,' Viktor Tsoi, died in a car accident. Details of the incident are being clarified. An investigative group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Latvian SSR is working at the crash site..."
It was officially announced that the funeral would take place at 10 a.m. on August 19, 1990, at the Bogoslovskoe Cemetery in Leningrad.
An official obituary was published. To allow the musicians of "KINO" to directly address their fans, the LenTV studio provided them airtime. This was the only correct decision in that explosive situation.
The mass hysteria that engulfed the city was reaching its peak. Despite the appeals of the "KINO" musicians, asking fans not to come to the funeral, people began moving toward the Bogoslovskoe Cemetery area.
The police, warned in advance, cordoned off all of Piskaryovka to prevent fans from attending the funeral and to avoid provoking riots, but this did not stop the huge number of people wishing to say goodbye to Tsoi. The crowd kept growing, and soon a whole camp spread out at the cemetery gates and along the cemetery fence...
That day, according to unofficial estimates, about 30,000 people visited Viktor Tsoi’s grave. The human grief is reflected in rare photographic footage preserved by fans. Here are hundreds of people lined up in a column on the path, fans carrying funeral wreaths, a girl fainting at Viktor’s grave, crying soldiers, confused, detached looks...
The canceled civil memorial service was replaced by a human procession from the cemetery gates to Palace Square. Crying people carried photographs, flags, portraits of Tsoi, sang songs... Drivers stopped their cars, letting the crowd pass, honking sympathetically. No one paid any attention to the pouring rain...
After Viktor’s death, a demo recording of the band’s last album remained, made by Tsoi and Kasparyan in Latvia, in Plienciems, during summer holidays. The "KINO" musicians and the band manager Yuri Aizenshpis managed to complete the album.
The band did not pursue any commercial goals; according to Tikhomirov, they were not concerned with that at all. They saw it as their duty to Viktor and tried to do everything as quickly as possible because the album was eagerly awaited. And, of course, after that, the band itself could no longer exist without its leader.
In December 1990, the album was presented to the public. Its first listening took place at the Leningrad Rock Club. The album presentation, organized by Yuri Aizenshpis, was held on January 12, 1991, at the Moscow Youth Palace, after which the paths of the "KINO" musicians diverged... "KINO" was over.
Sources:
https://www.kinomannia.ru/2013/11/death.html
Kalgin Vitaliy Nikolaevich: Viktor Tsoi
