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8 dead, 54 missing in Russian dam disaster
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-17 20:49
CHERYOMUSHKI, Russia: Eight people were killed on Monday and 54 were missing when a turbine room flooded at Russia's largest hydropower station, forcing steel and aluminium plants in Siberia to turn to emergency power. RusHydro, owner of the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant, said damage would run into "billions of roubles" and would take several months to fix. The company's shares were suspended in Russia and fell 13 percent in London.
"There is no threat to villages downstream from the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station. There is no threat of damage to the dam," Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said in televised comments. Officials said water flooded a turbine room at the dam which is more than 3,000 km (1,875 miles) from Moscow in the Siberian republic of Khakassia. A spokesman for the investigative committee of the general prosecutor's office told Reuters eight people had been killed, 10 injured and 54 were missing. A RusHydro spokesman confirmed that eight had been killed, but said only seven were injured and declined to comment on the missing. A Reuters correspondent said about 150 emergency workers in safety helmets gathered at the dam. The damaged pump room, around 100 metres in length, is located high in a concrete wall that has curved across the Yenisei river since its launch in 1978. Vasily Zubakin, acting chief executive of RusHydro, said the plant had stopped operations and damage would run into "billions of roubles". Even a partial restart of operations would take several months, he told a conference call. The Sayano-Shushenskaya plant represents 25 percent of RusHydro's total capacity, or 6.4 gigawatts from its total 25.3 gigawatts. Russia's financial markets regulator ordered the suspension of trading in RusHydro shares on both Russia's main stock exchanges. RusHydro's stock had fallen 7.1 percent on the MICEX exchange when suspended, versus a wider 3 percent drop. |
