Death race in Almaty Three dead, five police officers fired

A fatal accident occurred on the night of March 21st, around 3:30 a.m. A Mercedes-Benz and a Zeekr 9X collided head-on at the intersection of Al-Farabi and Mendikulova Streets. The 29-year-old driver and two female passengers in the Mercedes—women aged 20 and 22—died at the scene, while the Zeekr driver was taken to the hospital. Details below.

A 32-year-old Almaty businessman was driving the Zeekr 9X at the time of the accident. Social media reports claimed the electric car was participating in a nighttime race and was allegedly competing against the official car of a high-ranking Almaty police official. Social media users also discovered that the businessman had previously driven several cars around the city, one of which had a government license plate.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan has placed the investigation under special review. By order of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Yerzhan Sadenov, the deputy head of the Almaty Police Department, responsible for external services and road safety, and the heads of the administrative police and public safety departments were dismissed.

The driver of the "dhikr" was arrested after his condition stabilized. Alcohol was found in his blood. Under Part 4 of Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for violating traffic rules while intoxicated, resulting in the negligent death of two or more people, he faces up to 10 years in prison with a lifelong license suspension.

Separate criminal cases have been opened on allegations of the possible illegal issuance of state license plates, as well as against a sergeant who drove one of the deputy heads of the Almaty police department. Under Part 4 of Article 370 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, he faces up to 7 years in prison for failure to act on duty.

"On my instructions, officers from the Internal Security Department, the Administrative Police Committee, and the Personnel Department have been dispatched to Almaty. A comprehensive investigation is underway. Several senior officials have been dismissed. I emphasize: everyone will be held accountable. No one will escape responsibility. The law is the same for everyone," Yerzhan Sadenov, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, promised on social media.