31 August, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. More than 1,000 people were involved in the comprehensive exercise "Actions of Management Bodies, Emergency Response and Civil Defence Forces during the Threat and Occurrence of Emergencies in Peacetime and Wartime" in Vitebsk, the Vitebsk Regional Emergency Situations Department informed a BELTA correspondent. The exercises were held in Vitebsk from 29 August. Over the past few days, more than 1,000 employees from 45 educational institutions, healthcare facilities, law enforcement agencies, government bodies, and various enterprises of the city took direct part in it. Over 70 units of equipment were also involved. For instance, medical staff carried out the task of localising and eliminating a cholera outbreak detected at City Polyclinic No. 3, and a multidisciplinary civil defence hospital was deployed at City Hospital No. 1 for mass admission of casualties. Among the latter were employees of the Vitebsk Cold Storage Plant, where a release of 3 tonnes of ammonia "occurred". At the premises of OJSC "Keramika", actions were practiced to extinguish a fire involving damage to a gas pipeline. Employees of the housing and communal services and other relevant departments carried out theoretical tasks to eliminate the consequences of a storm front that damaged 20% of the city's residential sector and caused a number of other destructions, and also performed practical tasks to clear fallen trees. The results of the exercise will be summarised today by the heads of all interested departments and services at a meeting in the Vitebsk City Executive Committee, during which the performance of the Vitebsk city territorial defence unit will also be assessed. -0-

BELTA