By Catherine Belton in Moscow

Ten people were killed and 62 were missing after water burst into a turbine room at Russia's biggest hydroelectric power station yesterday, in an accident that highlights the fragile state of Russia's Soviet-era infrastructure.

Officials said it could take "several years" and billions of roubles to repair damage at the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant after the accident destroyed one turbine, seriously damaged two and caused part of the plant's structure to collapse.

The accident sowed panic in the Siberian region of Khakassia when news of the flooding broke yesterday morning, while steel and aluminium plants were forced to turn to emergency power. Residents, who had started to flee, began to return only after the emergencies' ministry said there was no danger that the dam would burst.

The cause of the incident has yet to be established, but analysts said it was a powerful reminder of Russia's dire need for hundreds of billions of roubles in investment in its crumbling Soviet-era infrastructure.

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Posted by rjorr at August 18, 2009 2:16 PM