15 January 2008, 15:01
MoE: explosion of apartment block in Zheleznovodsk was not terror act
While making his comments on the reasons of the explosion of the apartment block in the city of Zheleznovodsk, Stavropol Territory, at night of January 14, Alexander Kolupaev, head of the South Regional Centre of the Ministry of Emergencies (MoE) of the Russian Federation, has emphasized that the accident has nothing to do with a terror act, and what happened in Zheleznovodsk is just a household disaster.
"Let's view the issue from the other side - how can we exclude such cases? Are the housing and communal services working properly, are they ready for the winter? If apartments are badly warmed, people are turning on their electric heaters, someone is switching on a gas stove, and as a result such accidents happen," the "Stavropol Pravda" newspaper quotes Mr Kolupaev.
"I think all the equipment there is obsolete. I mean gas supply equipment. Earlier, they used to be strict with it, inspectors were coming and checking. And now - nothing of the kind," Timofei Ivanovich, a resident of one of the cities of the region of the Caucasian Mineral Waters, a teacher by profession, said in his talk with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
"Soon all our houses will collapse by themselves! Not from gas, but from their age," a student named Elena said. "So many accidents already! In Voronezh, in Kazan, recently something similar was also near Moscow."
