Border town inhabitants evacuated
Almost 1000 people were evacuated from their homes in Alakurtti, the town located on the border to Finland and Norway, when the local boiler collapsed in minus 35 °C
Military prosecutors are currently working in the border town to sort out the reasons for the incident which took place on the 4-5 February. The responsible will be charged on the groud of “neglect”, Murman.ru reports.
In the midst of a freezing period, the local boiler broke down leaving the locals without sources of heating. A state of emergency was announced a rescue teams soon evacuated 978 people, the news service informs.
Regional authorities in Murmansk first announced that only about 200 people had been evacuated from the frozen buildings.
The local boiler broke down after cold water started to leak from the installation.
The town of Alakurtti has about 6500 inhabitants. It was Finnish land until after the 1939 Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland.
