23:20, 14 December 2009

Sochi: storm washes unfinished port out, three persons missing

Sochi, the cargo port located near the mouth of Mzymtma River. December 6, 2009. Photo by the "Caucasian Knot"

At night on December 14 in Sochi, the cargo port located near the mouth of Mzymtma River was washed away. Residents of the Imereti Lowland report that the storm has demolished the piles and dropped building cranes. Water attacks the coastal road running along the sea from the mouth of the river to the main ice palace.

The storm has overturned and thrown ashore the diving boat involved on construction of the port. Three members of the crew are not found yet and considered to be missing.

According to Ivan Lischishin, director of the Scientific Research Centre (SRC) "Seashores", the leading scientific organization in Russia on sea coast protection, the events of the night on December 14 were impossible to predict, as reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Earlier, the Sochi hydraulic engineers had warned that the Olympic construction will negatively affect the coastal strip, but the authorities would not listen. The port was started without any simulation of the influence of the sea on the coast of the Imereti Bay, disregarding the fact that the Imereti coast had been earlier subject to strong washout by storms.

Author: Svetlana Kravchenko

Source: CK correspondent