Investigators state that gasmen's negligence caused explosion in Grozny

The gas explosion in Grozny, which caused harm to a woman and five children, was caused by rendering services that failed to meet safety requirements, the investigators assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that an explosion of domestic gas took place on November 28 in a private house in the Oktyabrsky District of Grozny; as a result, a woman and her five daughters, aged from one to 16 years, were hospitalized. The condition of one of the affected girls remains grave.

The explosion was caused by a leak from the gas pipeline passing near the household, said a source from the Department for Chechnya of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

"The pipeline was laid down back in 1967 and is under maintenance of the 'Chechenenergo'. However, due to negligence of employees of the company, who failed to carry out technical diagnostics for a long time; the tube got rotten' and this led to an emergency," he explained.

Local residents have reported that this is the second such tragedy in the Edaev family for the past six years. In 2010, gas exploded in the house, killing the owner's mother and burning the owner himself. On the following day after that tragedy, gasmen replaced a section of rotten pipeline, the family neighbours have reported.

According to the Republic's Ministry for Emergencies (MfE), since the start of the year, Chechnya has fixed over 300 fires, which have claimed three human lives.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.