Tomsk residents are flocking to buy "emergency kits" in preparation for Dec. 21, when the Mayan people believed the world would end.
The kits, which are sold for 890 rubles ($28) by a wedding agency in the Siberian city, contain sprats, buckwheat, vodka, matches, candles and a first aid kit, among other items, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported Monday, adding that several thousand such kits have been bought over the past few days.
Although the kits' contents are readily available at any store, a representative of the Marina Mandelson wedding agency, Yuliana Shchegoleva, told the newspaper that her agency has been receiving orders from all over Russia.
"We browsed the Internet and found that kits for this day [Doomsday] were only sold in Mexico. At this point we decided to make a 'comic' version for Russians, which turned out to be an inspired idea," another company representative said.
Agency staff told Rossiiskaya Gazeta that they never intended to "cash in" on the notion of Doomsday and simply hoped the project would make people laugh.
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