29.04.2009 00:13 | The Tragedy of Tigievs Family

The August Georgian aggression crushed the lives of many happy families. The house of Tigievs family is laden with sorrow too.

- More than three months passed, but I still cannot use to a thought that he is no more… -  Ludmila Mamieva tells about her husband Christopher Tigiev, who died in result of August Georgian aggression. There are tears in her eyes. – Everything in the house reminds of him. He did everything by himself”.

Christopher and Ludmila lived a happy married life. They brought up four children. They had eight grandchildren and a month ago one more grandson was born, but Christopher did not live till this red-letter day.

Christopher Alexsandrovich Tigiev was born in 1948 in Tskhinval. At the age of 7 he lost his father. 12-year-old boy helped his mother to provide a family, made some money during summer holidays. He graduated with honours from Agricultural college in Krasnodar; chemical and biological faculty of South Ossetian Teachers' Training institute and Mining and Smelting college in Vladikavkaz. Many years Christopher Tigiev worked as the chief engineer at Tskhinval factory “Emalprovod”.

On May, 2 of this year he’s turned 60. They celebrated the anniversary together with their relatives and friends. And on August, 8 “Emalprovod” factory should celebrate the  semicentennial from the year of foundation. Christopher prepared for this event, but he didn’t manage to celebrate the anniversary. On the night of August, 8 Georgian army began the attack. Sleeping Tskhinval was under heavy shelling with heavy weaponry. Many innocent civilians were killed. On the night of August, 8 the life of Christopher Tigiev ended in a tragedy. He lived together with his family in the private house at Ostrovsky Street.

During Georgian aggression in 1991 the shell hit the house of Tigievs family, it’s a miracle that nobody suffered. But this time they were not so lucky.

As the wife of killed man, the eyewitness of his death told, Christopher died of the received severe missile wound. “On August, 5 during the night bombardment of city from the direction of Georgian positions, the shell hit the roof of a balcony in our house. After that we decided to evacuate our grandchildren to North Ossetia, because the tensions were growing day by day, - Ludmila tells. - On the night of August, 8 when the storm of the city from the direction of Georgia began, I was at home with my husband, both our sons went to war. We worried about them very much. In the evening of August, 8 the shell hit the roof of our house, a shock wave has thrown me out of a bed. I was very frightened and asked Christopher to go down though it wasn’t safe in our semibasement. Our younger son Dima came to see us. He asked us to take cover in a safe bunker of the next house, but Christopher refused point-blank to go there. We stayed at home.

The husband was a reservist soldier and soon he was called in. He waited for it, could not be at home when his sons were in the firing line, was bound in honour to make a stand for his native town. It was nearly 2.00 a.m. At the moment he opened the door and was going to leave, two shells of “Grad” rocket system exploded in our kitchen garden with a terrible roar. One more shell landed in the court yard. The splinters flew away. One of them hit my husband’s heart. He seized his chest and said that he burnt his chest.

At this time Dima dropped in again. He saw his wounded bleeding father and took off his shirt. I pressed it to the wound to stop a bleeding. We put Christopher in supine position. Dima asked me not to press strongly on a wound and trying to save his dying father began to apply artificial respiration by himself. Then he sought help from the neighbour Alan Tskhovrebov, the doctor. Having learned that Christopher is wounded another neighbour Dzhemal Dzhigkaev went out too. Dima also ran to the “Emergency”, but the doctors were not there. But the driver with a stretcher arrived. Dzhemal and Alan come running to us at once, but they didn’t find Christopher alive...”

The house of Tigievs family is not the only one at

, which was damaged by heavy shelling. In result of the shelling from “Grad” rocket system and other weapon dozens of houses are turned into the site of a fire, a lot of them are destroyed.

On August, 11 Christopher Tigiev was temporarily buried in the kitchen garden of his native home. Dima and his father-in-law Rufin Dzhioev dug a grave for him notwithstanding the continuing bombardments of the city. After a while he was reburied in Zguder`s cemetery.

“Christopher loved his family very much, - Ludmila recollects. - It happened that he came home tired or sometimes upset by something, but he gave no sign. He was unable to stand the bad mood in the house. On the contrary, he began to joke, play with his grandchildren, whom he adored. The atmosphere of the house was always unusually pleasant, warm and joyful with him. We miss him very much.”

On photo: Christopher with his wife, granddaughters and grandson

Translated by Tatiana Inozemtseva