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Emergency introduced in Nizhny Novgorod region settlement, where ground subsided

Three houses were damaged in the ground subsidence

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, April 10 (Itar-Tass) - The emergency situation regime was introduced in the settlement Buturlino in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, where the ground subsided overnight to Wednesday. The appropriate decision was taken at a meeting of the committee of emergency situations and fire safety on Wednesday, the press service of the regional emergency situation department reported.

The accident occurred at about 02:00 Moscow time on Wednesday in the settlement, where the ground subsided that resulted in a crater with a diameter of 40 metres at first and up to 14 metres deep that enlarged to 85 metres. According to the updated information of the emergency situation department a residential house used as countryside house, a unused warehouse and a residential house, where four people lived, were damaged in the ground subsidence.

The emergency situation department also noted that nine residential houses, where 33 people live, including eight children, and two private non-residential houses, which are used as countryside houses, are situated in a radius of 100 metres round the crater. All residents were evacuated timely, but refused from the proposal to be accommodated at a temporary centre in the children’s camp Nadezhda (hope).

The emergency specialists disconnected the life-supporting systems of the houses in a probable ground subsidence zone. The gas supplies were disconnected in 30 residential houses, where 30 people live. Another 111 residential houses with 173 dwellers were disconnected from the electric power supplies over damaged electric power pylons.

Governor Valery Shantsev said in his Internet journal that “the emergency works, energy utility workers, railway workers and doctors are working together” at the accident site. “The emergency specialists are studying a possible enlargement of the ground subsidence and a threat to the residential houses and the railway,” the governor noted.

“There is a version that the ground subsidence occurred due to the ground waters, which went up together with the flood,” he noted.

The press service of the Gorkovskaya Railway reported that the train speed was reduced to 40 km/h on the Sergach section of the Gorkovskaya Railway that is running 100 metres away from the dip.