Penza, 19 January 2016. PenzaNews. The night of Epiphany, which Orthodox Christians are traditionally celebrating by taking a short dive in a font basin in a frozen body of water, passed in Penza without any incidents, Alexei Mikhaylov, head of the city’s Civil Defense and Emergency Situations Department, said during the weekly meeting session on Tuesday, January 19.

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According to him, the rescue services prevented injuries and deaths from occurring during the ritual.

Alexei Mikhaylov reminded that there were two font basins in Penza city: at “Russkaya Okhota” resort, and on Ryleeva street. The first one was attended by about 1,000 people, while the second attracted nearly 4,500 people.

The Civil Defense and Emergency Situations Department head added that the dangerous font basins created by people on their own were also monitored by rescue services, which helped prevent any accidents.