CHEREMUSHKI SETTLEMENT (Khakasi), August 22 (RIA Novosti) - The sale of strong alcoholic drinks has been banned near the Siberian hydropower plant where at least 67 people lost their lives in an accident this week.
Notices were posted by the local authorities on Saturday stating that it was temporarily forbidden to sell drinks with an alcohol content of greater than 15%.
"This measure is aimed at stopping people drinking. Yes, a tragedy occurred, they are going to funerals, but uncontrolled consumption of alcohol will do even more damage," an official in the Sayanogorsk administration told RIA Novosti.
The ban will last until the search and rescue operations are completed, which is expected to be in a few days. Emergency workers said on Saturday they expect to finish pumping water out of the flooded plant on Sunday, with cleanup of the Yenisei River expected to take another one or two days.
The 67th dead body was recovered late on Saturday, with eight people still missing following Monday's accident, which destroyed the turbine hall of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant and flooded several levels of the structure.
Experts estimate that returning the power plant to full operation could take up to four years.
