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Russian emergency ministry’s staff set on duty ahead of Sochi Olympics

SOCHI, January 09, 21:47 /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Situations /EMERCOM/ has placed over 1,700 officers on the round-the-clock duty in the Olympic city of Sochi.

The rescue teams set up their centres at sports facilities in the mountainous and coastal clusters of the Winter Olympics while the fire prevention monitoring is being carried out at visitors’ and athletes’ accommodation facilities, the regional EMERCOM department for the Krasnodar Territory told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

“A mounted and sniffing-dog rescue unit has been set up in the village of Akhshtyr, and two unique fire stations have been built in Imeretinskaya Valley," the EMERCOM department said. "An innovative project based on prompt reaction technology on motorbikes is being implemented, and a Sochi branch of the Centre for Crisis Situations Response has opened.”

“Officers on duty have gained additional skills, including in foreign languages, so as to offer immediate assistance in cases of emergencies,” it said.

The rescuers engaged in the Games have learned new methods of rescuing people. Multifunctional robotic complex, vehicles for putting down fires in tunnels, all-terrain vehicles as well as four-wheelers are made operational, bringing the total of special-purpose machinery to 260 units.

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