Russian Security Council Chief Blames Krasnoyarsk Dam Collapse On Officials' Incompetence

The recent deadly collapse of dams in Russia's Krasnoyarsk Territory was a result of the irresponsible attitude of officials toward forecasting and preventing emergencies, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said on Friday

OMSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2019) The recent deadly collapse of dams in Russia's Krasnoyarsk Territory was a result of the irresponsible attitude of officials toward forecasting and preventing emergencies, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said on Friday.

Speaking at a meeting in Omsk on security issues in the Siberian Federal District, Patrushev noted that this year the Siberian Federal District failed to prevent the consequences of devastating natural phenomena that resulted in casualties and significant material damage.

"It has become already obvious that such emergencies are often the result of a formal approach to the fulfillment of tasks and the lack of a clear plan of work for forecasting and preventing emergencies ... One of the latest events indicating such an irresponsible attitude was the incident in the Kuraginsky District of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, namely the collapse of illegally built dams," he said.

The dam, which belonged to a gold mining cooperative, collapsed on October 19 in the vicinity of the Shchetkino village in the Kuraginsky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, located in Siberia. A torrent of mud and rocks flooded two makeshift dormitories where workers were sleeping. A total of 17 people were killed in the incident, while three others are still missing. The Russian Investigative Committee said that four other dams were also razed. All the dams that were destroyed were built illegally. Three suspects, including the director general of the cooperative, were arrested.