Thaindian News

Sayano-Shushenskaya (Russia), Aug 18 (RIA Novosti) The toll in an accident at Russia’s largest hydropower plant has risen to 12, with 64 people still unaccounted for, the country’s emergencies minister said Tuesday.
“The fate of 64 people is still unknown,” minister Sergei Shoigu told reporters at the south Siberian Sayano-Shushenskaya power station, where he is coordinating rescue and clean-up work. Some 1,200 rescuers are working at the scene.

Emergencies officials said 15 people were also injured early Monday when two water ducts collapsed at the plant, flooding a turbine hall.

Earlier reports said the disaster could have been triggered by the explosion of an oil transformer while workers were carrying out repairs.

Russian prosecutors said Tuesday the accident was not a result of a terrorist act. “Experts have not found any traces of explosives at the scene,” the investigation committee said in a statement.

The flooding has now been stopped, Shoigu said.

He said divers were searching for bodies, and robots and other equipment would be used to monitor the river surface and check the damaged facilities.

Emergency workers are also trying to deal with an oil slick that took place at the Yenisei river after the accident.

Four people earlier reported missing were found late Monday. One was discovered in a state of shock in the station’s underground facility, one was retrieved from the water, and two others were found at their homes.

Shoigu urged local residents not to panic, saying the dam was unaffected and there was no threat of flooding. Commenting on reports that locals were buying up petrol at filling stations Monday, he pledged uninterrupted fuel and electricity supplies to the region.

The accident cut power supplies to homes and companies, including metal giants Evraz Group and RusAl. Six factories in the nearby Altai region have reportedly shut down due to the electricity shortage.

The energy ministry, however, said late Monday that power supplies disrupted in five Siberian regions, including at aluminium plants, had been restored using supplies from thermal power stations in Siberia and the European part of Russia.

RusHydro, the owner of the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant built in 1978, said Tuesday it could restart one or two generating units before the end of this year.

Experts warned Monday that electricity prices could rise by 20-30 percent for industries in the region following the disaster, which forced nearby thermal power stations to increase output to compensate for the Sayano-Shushenskaya station’s closure.

President Dmitry Medvedev expressed condolences to the victims’ families Monday, a day which also saw a suicide bomber attack a police station in south Russia’s Ingushetia, killing at least 20.