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Hundreds of rescuers scrambled Tuesday to try to locate more than 60 workers trapped in a Siberian hydroelectric plant after an accident on Monday. But with only two survivors recovered, the acting chief executive of RusHydro, which owns the plant, said that most had probably drowned.

At least 12 people were confirmed dead after the bursting of a water conduit that leads to the turbines at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant in the Khakassia region of Siberia, according to the Emergency Situations Ministry. As many as 64 workers from the plant, Russia’s largest power generator, were still missing as of Tuesday morning, the ministry said.

“Finding survivors in the flood zone is not likely, but we are searching,” the executive, Vitaly Zubakin, said, according to the Ria Novosti news agency. A former director at the plant, Alexander Toloshinov, told the Interfax news agency that workers could only survive if they managed to stay out of the frigid water.

Vesti television of Russia showed what it said was cellphone video showing plumes of water spewing from the plant and several loud explosions in the first few minutes after the accident.

“There was a large explosion, and the power went out,” said Irina Perepelitsina, a worker at the plant interviewed by NTV television. “The alarm went off, and we all ran to the exits.”

Sergei Shoigu, the emergency situations minister, suggested that a hydraulic pressure surge could have caused water to burst through the walls and ceiling in the engine room of Turbine No. 2, causing it to rapidly fill with water, a statement on the ministry’s Web site said. Investigators from the Prosecutor General’s Office earlier said the accident could have occurred when a transformer exploded during repairs.

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s general’s investigative wing, said Tuesday that prosecutors were not considering a terrorist attack or sabotage as possibilities.

Meanwhile, the environmental toll continued to grow. The damaged plant has released a vast oil slick on the Yenisei River, the Natural Resources Ministry said. Power was lost to five major factories, which will now be supplied by burning coal, company officials said. Restoring the plant could take years.

Dozens Presumed Drowned at Siberian Plant

Continue reading »]]> Mexico — Twenty-nine children were killed and more than 100 others were injured Friday when their day care center caught fire in the northwestern state of Sonora, a spokesman for the state’s governor said.

The victims were from 1 to 5 years old, said Jose Larrinaga, the spokesman.

The fire appeared to have started at 3 p.m. in a warehouse next door to the one-story concrete building that housed the state-run ABC Daycare and spread to the state-run institution, news reports said.

By then, many children had already been picked up by their parents from the one-story building. But others came after the blaze had been put out, with parents screaming their children’s names as others fainted.

In a message of condolence, President Felipe Calderon wished a quick recovery for the injured, who were taken to several area hospitals. He also called on the nation’s attorney general to investigate the fire.

Authorities dispatched 15 specialists in reconstruction and three air ambulances to the area along with respirators and specialized medicines, and a U.S. hospital will help treat some of the victims. Video Watch chaos in aftermath of tragedy »

Admissions will begin Saturday, said Catherine Curran, a spokeswoman for Shriners Hospitals for Children in Sacramento, California.

Shriners Hospitals is a health care system that gives children free treatment for burns, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic conditions, and cleft lip and palate, according to its Web site. It admits children under 18.

The first hospital opened in 1922. The system has burn units in Boston, Massachusetts; Cincinnati Ohio; and Sacramento, California.

29 children die in Mexico day care center fire

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Continue reading »]]> Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s largest carrier, said two of its Boeing Co. 747 aircraft were damaged in a collision while being towing at a maintenance base.

“Both aircraft did sustain some damage and the extent of this is being assessed,” Qantas said in an e-mailed statement. “We have stood the individuals involved down pending a full investigation into this incident.”

The accident occurred this morning at the Avalon Maintenance Base near Melbourne, according to the statement. The carrier has had several safety mishaps this year, including a mid-air explosion of an oxygen tank in July.

Qantas operated 188 aircraft as of Oct. 1, 34 of which are from the Boeing 747 family, according to its Web site.

One of the planes involved in today’s incident was damaged in the mid-air explosion, the Australian Associated Press reported earlier today.

Bloomberg.com: