100,000 left without heat in Siberia

More than 100,000 people in the Siberian city of Kyzyl were left without heat and hot water amid subzero temperatures after a breakdown at the central heating plant today.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said a short-circuit in the plant’s electrical system caused a hot water pipe to burst.

Workers hoped to restore power and begin sending hot water flowing later tonght, but with temperatures hovering around minus 37C, workers were emptying water from the system to prevent main supply pipes from freezing.

The ministry said most residences in the city of 110,000 had small heating stoves that could keep homes from freezing entirely, but people would have no hot tap water until the plant was operational again.

Most Russian towns and cities rely on central plants to supply heat and hot water to residences, and small technical problems routinely lead to widespread power failures.

In western Ukraine, meanwhile, a blizzard knocked out power supplies to more than 200 towns and villages, leaving thousands in the dark.

The Ukrainian Hydro-Meteorological Centre said the weather was predicted to worsen tomorrow, complicating recovery efforts.