Home / Hydroelectric plant accident kills 13: UPDATE

Hydroelectric plant accident kills 13: UPDATE

by Edward Attwood on Aug 19, 2009

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Rescue workers outside the shattered entrance to the plant. Courtesy of AFP/Getty.

The fall-out from this week’s engine-room catastrophe at a Russian power station has continued with another confirmed casualty, bringing the total of known deaths to 13.

However, a full 61 other employees are confirmed as missing, with little hope of their survival. Divers are continuing to search the flooded facility.

On Monday, a transformer explosion resulted in the flooding of an engine room at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant, Russia’s largest. The plant’s owner said that flooding had occurred as a result of a pressure surge in the water pipes, which led to the explosion.

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said that US $1.2 billion would be needed to repair the plant’s engine room, according to AP.

Other media reports suggested that the 30-year-old turbines had not been overhauled since 1993.

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