RUSSIA: Moscow residents snap up $1000 tickets for 'doomsday party' to be held in cold-war era bunker 56 metres underground on December 21

Record ID: 851002

  • Title: RUSSIA: Moscow residents snap up $1000 tickets for 'doomsday party' to be held in cold-war era bunker 56 metres underground on December 21
  • Date: 19th December 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF BUNKER HALL VARIOUS OF ALARM SIGNAL GOING ON AND RED LAMP BLINKING SIGN READING 'DON'T ENTER, IT'LL KILL YOU'
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • City:
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA5XVESITUPD1AZ0ENWVG2BD9K8
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: With the end of the world just a few days away, it may be the right time to plan a party. And if a house party sounds too risky, then a bunker based 56 meters below ground might prove the safest place to be when an apocalypse hailed by 'Doomsday' believers hits on Friday (December 21).
    Built in 1956 and transformed into a museum in 2006, the nuclear protective Bunker 42 in Moscow offers $1000 tickets for the underground party that will start late on Thursday (December 20) and last until a day after the end of the world. Or Saturday (December 22).
    While the entrance looks simple and even ascetic, when the elevator takes you 18 floors down you're welcomed by dark Soviet style halls and rooms.
    The party, meant for maximum 300 people, will take place in various bunker halls where on-wall monitors will show live signal from other bunkers all over the world that are planning the same type of party.
    As the museum's senior guide Alexei Pavlovsky explains, the idea to organise this type of event in the Bunker came from random museum visitors, so they just couldn't say no.

    "The idea is pretty simple, many people would feel much calmer if they could spend this critical day being surrounded with maximum comfort and safety. And who are we to say no when we have 56 meters of ground above us and a well 100 meters below us, there's also a pumping system and ventilation. On the 21st (of December) people will be able to spend the entire 24 hours from midnight to midnight here underground," said Pavlovsky.

    "The program of this (event) is decided, as you understand, not by us. We don't have control over things such as the end of the world. But we are ready for pretty much everything and we will be adjusting to the situation. So that people aren't bored there'll be a children's room with cartoons on, for adults there'll be movies, conferences with some speakers dedicated to the end of the world, excursions around the museum. There'll be a live broadcast from other bunkers abroad," he added.
    He also said that the bunker construction can withstand the worst disasters such as nuclear bombs and serious earthquakes.

    "Initially this (bunker) was projected in a way that if you put a 20-kilo ton nuclear bomb like the one in Hiroshima right on top of the protective cap (it would withstand a blow). A megaton nuclear bomb can be blown up approximately 700 meters away from us without doing much damage to the bunker. The bunker can survive a Japanese type earthquake with a lot of damage but people will most likely survive."
    School children who were on tour around the museum confessed they wouldn't mind spending the Doomsday deep underground.

    "The bunker is rather big, everything is done here in a way that makes people feel safe. I also think this is a comfortable, cozy place to spend not only a day but the whole war period, let alone the end of the world," said pupil Anya.
    According to some modern-day interpretations of the Mayan calendar, December 21 marks the end of a cycle in the calendar and the beginning of a new era for the World.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register