Ekaterina Didenko was an extremely popular influencer in Russia, with 1.6 million followers. On Friday February 28, 2020, she decided to organize a big party to celebrate her 29th birthday.
Memorable for the wrong reasons
The birthday was going to be memorable, but not for the reasons Ekaterina hoped. Three people died and seven others were hospitalized.
Ekaterina, a mother of two, and her husband, Valentin, 32, have rented a pool at a popular spa, Devyaty Val. It was for the nine party guests who were lucky enough to receive an invitation to the star’s birthday.
A few hours later, Valentin, along with two other guests, were dead.
Accident or murder?
Earlier today, Ekaterina posted a photo of herself on Instagram. She was holding golden balloons which formed the number 29 and in a text she said she was proposing one of the very few birthday parties she would throw.
What happened later was described as a terrible accident or outright murder.
Ekaterina, who is remarkably a pharmacist by training, has written regular columns about her experiences in pharmacy and chemistry as well as more traditional topics related to recipes, savings tips and her personal life.
The couple were popular on social media.
Of course, the party was held with social media in mind.
Ekaterina and Valentin had bought 25 kilos of dry ice, and in a video that was later released, laughing partygoers can be seen pouring the dry ice into the pool, wearing wetsuits and goggles.
Was meant to be cool and scary
The idea behind the dry ice was to create a cool, ghostly fog-covered environment in and around the pool. The swimming pool was welcome after a hot sauna, from which the guests came out.
When dry ice comes into contact with water, carbon dioxide gas and cold, moist air are produced. It’s not dangerous in small amounts, but in large amounts it can suffocate people because there isn’t enough oxygen.
That’s exactly what happened at the party, killing three people.
The video ends with the guests jumping into the pool, filled with dry ice, and disappearing below the surface, bathing everyone. They no longer appear. They were dying.
Valentin managed to get out of the pool but died in hospital later that night. Two of their friends, Natalia Monakova and Yuri Alferov, both 25, suffocated, while other guests suffered severe burns.
Immorality
The day after the terrible party, Ekaterina continued to post on social networks, as if nothing had happened. She had then been a widow for several hours, two of her friends were dead and others were seriously injured.
She complained that her birthday had been ruined and blamed bad dry ice. She posted the video of people dying.
Then came a tidal wave of complaints, both from the public and the media, and Ekaterina was accused of immorality for trying to profit from the tragedy.
Valentin, Yuri and Natalia are all dead.
New boobs and a new man
Also, many people have asked how come someone with a background in pharmacy thought of such a mess, putting dry ice in a swimming pool and encouraging people to jump in it.
She replied that she thought the pool was big enough to hold 25 pounds of dry ice and complained that the area was not well ventilated.
But Ekaterína managed to triple her followers and two months later she had breast augmentation and remarried.
She, on the other hand, was charged with manslaughter and that case is still simmering somewhere in the Russian system.
