Blasts in power plant lit up Murmansk sky

Like powerful explosions, flares of light yesterday illuminated the dark Murmansk night sky. Power outages were experienced for short periods all over the Russian Arctic city.

The incident at the plant, which is located in the central part of the city, started at 5.21 pm and lasted several minutes. The streets were full of locals either on shopping or on their way home from work. It all created fear, and there was little information about what was actually happening, news agency Severpost reports.  

The power plant is operated by Kolenergo, a subsidiary of the Northwest Inter-regional Grid Company. In a press release, the company says that the reason for the situation was «short-circuiting connected with technical error in equipment».

No fire broke out and there were no casualties, the company informs in a press release. Normal power supply to all city objects was restored in the course of 40 minutes after the incident.

Northwest Inter-regional Grid Company supplies electricity to the lion’s share of Murmansk Oblast. It has two regional operating subdivisions, one in Murmansk City and one in Apatity.