Almost 15,000 people in Bratsk, Russia’s Irkutsk region, are left without central heating or hot water following a heat supply system breakdown in the centre of the city which affected 83 blocks of flats, the Russian Emergency Ministry reported. The Weather Channel shows that the temperature at night in the region dropped as low as -26°C.
“There’s a serious utility service accident in Bratsk. The heat supply grid burst on Lenin Avenue. Services worked through the night,” Irkutsk region Governor Igor Kobzev noted. According to the Emergency Ministry, 14,704 people live in the affected buildings, including 4,500 children.
“83 buildings were turned off, including 14 social facilities (preschools and schools),” Bratsk Mayor Sergey Serebrennikov is quoted as saying by Kobzev.
The accident happened in the evening of 13 December.
On 29 November, central heating went off for almost 14,000 people in Novosibirsk after a heating pipe burst in -30°C, affecting 93 buildings.
On 27 November, 70,000 people were left without heating after another pipe burst in Abakan. The accident affected 14 social facilities and 270 blocks of flats. The temperature in the city then dropped as low as -21°C.
