Waitress injured in Sukhum shooting incident dies in hospital
SUKHUM. Dec 3 (Interfax) - The waitress who was seriously injured during a shootout outside San Remo restaurant in Sukhum on November 22, has died in hospital, Abkhazia's ministry of healthcare and social protection said.
"Dominika Akirtava passed away, having never regained consciousness, on December 3. She was in a deep coma at the intensive care unit at the Republican hospital," the statement reads.
It was reported that two crime bosses were killed outside the restaurant in Sukhum on November 22. Investigators recovered over 80 empty AK rifle shells from the scene.
Akirtava was seriously injured and hospitalized. Two more people were also taken to a Sukhum hospital with injuries.
According to preliminary information, at least four people were involved in the attack. They wore masks and camouflage. According to the Abkhaz Interior Ministry, the shooting began at around 2:40 p.m., when the masked men pulled over onto Makhadzhirov Embankment and opened fire at people sitting at a table outside the restaurant.
An informed source told Interfax that two men were killed in the shooting in front of the San Remo restaurant. They are crime bosses Astamur Shamba and Alkhas Avidzba, both of whom were born in the town of Gudauta.
According to witnesses, one of the victims managed to fire a few shots in the direction of the attackers.
Following the shootout at the restaurant, the Sukhum prosecutor's office opened criminal cases on several counts, including premeditated murder and attempted murder of two or more people committed by a generally dangerous method by a group of persons in collusion.
The killing of the crime bosses in Abkhazia prompted an outcry.
On December 2, around 300 people gathered outside the parliament building demanding that the interior minister and the prosecutor general step down. Among them were the relatives of people killed and injured during the shootout. Several opposition activists also came to the square.
Interior Minister Garry Arshba and his First Deputy Kazbek Makhashev have resigned. On December 2 the parliament unanimously voted for the dismissal of Prosecutor General Zurab Achba and his first deputy Yesshou Kakalia.