May 26, 2005
MosNews
Photo: Frame from Vesti Channel
Two years ago, when New York City was paralyzed by a massive blackout, Russian energy officials used the occasion to point out that something like that could never happen in Russia, where the energy infrastructure is entirely different. But by Wednesday afternoon, after a massive power outage at a plant in Moscow left tens of thousands of people without electricity, water, or the Internet, panicked journalists had already begun making their comparisons.
The disaster began late Tuesday night, when a short circuit at Moscow’s Chagino power plant caused an explosion that, in the words of energy officials, led to a cascade effect in the city and surrounding vicinities.
By noon on Wednesday, some 20,000 people were trapped underground in the Moscow subway, with electricity cut off suddenly on at least five lines, leaving some 43 trains stuck in tunnels.
The nearby city of Tula was also left without electricity and rail transport to Moscow was cut off. In total, 25 cities in the Moscow region experienced some sort of power cut.
Ground transportation officials declared an emergency situation and deployed manual traffic conductors. At least 1,000 buses were deployed to evacuate Muscovites from the subway.
Many buildings were not only left without electricity, but water was also cut off.
By 3 p.m. local time, emergency officials annoucned that some 1,500 people had been freed from elevators across the city.
Stores, businesses, and government institutions – the Interior Ministry and the Federation Council were closed as of noon – shut down as crowds poured into the street while outside temperatures reached a record breaking 90 degrees (31 C). 15 hospitals were left without electricity, forced to use emergency power. Still, so far no serious injuries or deaths were reported – it is simply too soon to tell.
Ekho Moskvy radio called on listeners tuning in in their cars to lend a hand to stranded pedestrians. A doctor advised people to take it easy and drink plenty of water.
While it is too soon to say how the power cut will affect the Russian capital economically, startling signs appeared just after noon: the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange halted trading until 1 p.m. because of power outages, while Sberbank, Russia’s leading government-controlled bank, warned its customers that transactions may be disrupted.
By Wednesday afternoon, with most of the stranded subway passengers evacuated and the subway service expected to resume work, the prosecutor general called for an investigation into the causes of the blackout.
Meanwhile, the press secretary for United Energy Systems (Russia’s power grid monopoly), Andrei Trapeznikov, speaking live on Ekho Moskvy radio, said he could not rule out sabotage – or even a terrorist attack – although the most likely explanation was worn-out equipment.
“The station in Chagino was equipped in 1961-1962,” he said. He called the situation there initially “troublesome”.
“It’s the end of the world,” the Newsru.com website quipped, taking advantage of the fact that in Russian the word for both “light” and “world” is the same.
http://www.mosnews.com/commentary/2005/05/25/blackout.shtml