Watching this video, I really don’t know how this tow could have gone worse. Then I read the backstory.
Vladislav Rybin, the owner of the little Fiat hatchback said his car “fell through the ground” in some kind of sinkhole caused by a busted sewer line in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, as this Russian news video explains.
A couple public utilities vehicles (from the artfully-named Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters) tried to pull the car free, but ended up tearing the rear axle right out the car.
So not only did his car sink because of a utilities fuckup, it was the utilities again who completed the destruction. That is insult to injury.
The half-disassembled Fiat was eventually pulled cleanly from the mess, but Rybin is still seeking compensation from the Ministry of Emergencies, as 360 TV reports. Rybin claims his car recently passed inspection and the destruction is the fault of his so-called rescuers.
Contact the author at raphael@jalopnik.com.