09 February 2010, 23:10
Electricity failed for several hours in the capital of Azerbaijan
Today at midday, the city of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, settlements of the Apsheron Peninsula, and adjacent cities of Khyrdalan and Sumgait, lost their electricity supplies. Traffic in Baku metro and railways was stopped. All state bodies, including the President's administration, got de-powered.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent informs, the population plunged into practically complete information vacuum; the unique sources of the information were the country's radio stations, which could be listened to through mobile phones. (Radio and TV channels switched over into their backup power units, but people could not watch TV for absence of power.)
However, the radio news only stated the facts of electricity cut-offs; as to the reasons contradictory versions were spread.
The power supply was restored for several hours, and meanwhile thousands of persons got stuck in metro trains; the passengers were brought out in absolute darkness along the tunnels by rescuers of the Ministry for Emergencies.
The power supply was completely restored four hours later - closer towards the evening. According to Alekper Bakhshaliev, press secretary of the OJSC "Azerenergy", the reason of the failure was "a disconnection of the Apsheron substation."
In the opinion of experts, a failure of one substation could not disconnect two large cities - Baku and Sumgait - at the same time.
According to Ilham Shaban, a power expert and head of the "Caspian Barrel" Oil Research Centre, "the today's failure has shown poor efficiency of the power infrastructure of Azerbaijan and the way it's managed."
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent
