Moscow’s new government faced its first emergency Tuesday when a broken cold water pipe flooded four streets during morning rush hour, choking traffic and leaving 12 apartment buildings without power, RIA-Novosti reported.
Firefighters had to be called to pump water out of the basements of flooded buildings after the pipe burst at 6 a.m. on Malomoskovskaya Ulitsa near the Alexeyevskaya metro station in northeastern Moscow, while police diverted traffic from the affected area.
Reserve supply lines were used to provide water for residents of the 12 buildings hit by the flooding, and portable power stations were brought on site to provide electricity. All but one street were reopened Tuesday afternoon.
The burst pipe was worn and scheduled for replacement, said a spokesman for Mosvodokanal, the city’s water company. But Mosvodokanal head Stanislav Khramenkov said the pipe might have been destroyed by ground shifting because of nearby construction work.
