MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - A parliamentary committee looking into August's accident at a Siberian hydropower plant has blamed staff and management for the tragedy.
The August 17 disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant on Siberia's Yenisei River killed 75 people and destroyed a turbine hall. The accident also destroyed three hydropower units and damaged the other seven.
Parliamentary committee spokesman Vladimir Pekhtin blamed the "unacceptably low level of professional accountability of those who worked at the plant" and "abuse of office on the part of plant management" for the accident.
He also accused management of creating a company to carry out repairs at the plant.
The Russian industrial safety regulator, Rostekhnadzor, announced on October 3 the results of its probe into the disaster at the country's largest hydroelectric power station.
The report said a number of aspects, including design, operation and poor maintenance work, had caused the disaster. Anatoly Chubais, the ex-head of Russia's now defunct state electricity monopoly, was among those held responsible for the accident.
According to Rostekhnadzor's findings, the heads of the plant and its owner, RusHydro, failed to do everything they could have done to prevent the disaster, while staff had not been properly trained on how to respond to accidents.
