Moscow Stricken By Power Outages

Electricity outages hit large sections of the Russian capital and nearby regions Wednesday, forcing many subway lines and trolleybuses to halt service while frustrated pedestrians tried to flag down taxis on traffic-jammed streets.

The outages stemmed from a fire and explosion at a substation, said Magarita Nagoga, a spokeswoman for Unified Electricity Systems, the country's power grid. The problems began late Tuesday and workers tried to repair the damaged equipment, but were unable to get them into full operation before electricity demands hit their peak Wednesday morning amid an early summer heatwave.

"We primarily believe that the main reason is that the equipment is worn out," Nagoga said, noting that the substation was built in 1963.

The substation problem caused a cascade effect into other parts of the grid. UES reported the spread had stopped by about 1 p.m. Wednesday, news agencies said, but it was unclear when full service would be restored. Subways were being put back into service by about 3 p.m., some four hours after they stopped.

Ministry of Emergency Situations spokesman Viktor Beltsov said the outages hit wide areas of Moscow's south. The problems extended as far as the Tula region, about 120 miles south of Moscow, Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko told the lower house of parliament.

The Interfax news agency reported an explosion at a chemical factory in the Tula region that resulted from the power outage, sending nitric oxide into the air. Emergency officials were advising residents to stay indoors and shut their windows, the agency reported.

News reports said the power failure caused some apartment buildings to lose their water supply and forced suspension of trading on both of Moscow's stock exchanges. The Central Bank issued a statement warning that some bank transfers and ATM services may have been affected, Ekho Moskvy radio reported.

City health department spokesman Andrei Seltsovsky said at least 20 hospitals were without electricity and patients requiring emergency treatment were being moved to places that still had power or were operating on generators, according to Interfax.

Passengers were evacuated from stalled subway trains, Interfax cited system spokesman Dmitri Gaev as saying. Passengers waiting for trains were asked to leave the stations, but hundreds of people remained on the platforms, impatiently peering into the tunnels.

"Like always, they're not telling us anything," said Lena Trofimova, 44, was waiting for a bus near the Kremlin after leaving a nearby subway station.

Along Leninsky Prospekt, a major north-south thoroughfare, the sidewalks were crammed with people walking south, trying to head to their home in residential districts. Some looked confusedly at maps and others tried to board packed city buses.

Despite the stresses, there were no immediate reports of disorder and most of the affected people appeared to take the inconvenience with stoic resignation, despite unusually warm temperatures that reached near 85 Fahrenheit for a third day.

"There's no point in getting angry," said Natasha Ryzhnikova, a 21-year-old student.