The authorities of the Irkutsk region have introduced a state of emergency in the Kirensky district — there, two tankers collided on the Lena River, one of them was damaged by a container with fuel, as a result, part of the transported gasoline fell into the river. This is reported by the head of the region Igor Kobzev.
As specified in the press service of the Eastern Interregional Investigation Department for Transport, we are talking about a collision near the village of Alekseevsk TR-901, which is under repair, and TR-900 «Erofey Khabarov», which transported 832 tons of gasoline. As a result of the accident, part of the fuel got into the water.
There were 138 tons of gasoline in the damaged tank car. When the fuel began to pour into the water area, the tanker crew began pumping gasoline into a free tank, and also installed a boom around the vessel, which prevented the spread of oil products over the surface of the water, Kobzev added. According to preliminary estimates, from 60 to 90 tons of fuel spilled into the river, the government of the region reported.
During today's urgent meeting of the regional commission for the prevention and liquidation of emergency situations, the East Siberian transport prosecutor Denis Avdeev noted that the captain of the tanker carrying gasoline was intoxicated. The vessel was controlled by his assistant.
“An emergency regime has been introduced in the area. There is a supply of sorbent and booms. The situation is complicated by the fact that the river is navigable. In addition, there are settlements downstream. The local authorities are working to prevent water from being taken from the river,” the governor wrote.
According to the security forces, there were no casualties. The Bratsk Investigation Department on Transport began a pre-investigation check under articles on violation of traffic safety rules and operation of inland water transport (Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code) and violation of environmental protection rules in the course of work (Article 246 of the Criminal Code).
< b>Updated at 8:52. Added information about the amount of fuel that got into the river and the condition of the tanker captain at the time of the collision.