Azerbaijani authorities try to present fearsome fire as ‘act of terrorism’ and avoid dismantling cheap siding of Baku slams?
Baku chief executive Hajibala Abutalibov visited the fire scene. When he was having a look at the consequences of the fire, a piece of glass collapsed on his head from the upper floors of the building almost hitting him in the head, newspaper Yeni Musavat reports.
Abutalibov said there are 140 buildings in Baku covered with that material. “Samples of the siding of the buildings have been taken. After expertise, a decision will be made to dismantle it. This material ignites at 146 degrees, but it must ignite at 546. They have just saved on the materials,” Baku chief executive confessed.
Besides, Abutalibov said the apartment buildings are being guarded. The Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Emergency Situations assume that it could be an act of terrorism. “If the terror version is confirmed or if the cause of the ignition turns out to be something else, then the siding will not be dismantled,” Baku mayor said.
The president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, noted that the preliminary version of the fire is that the building was covered with low quality and non-fire-resistant materials, Trend agency reports.
Meanwhile Baku residents complain that plastic siding produced by the company Azinford goes on to be installed on their houses, the chairman of the Free Democratic Party, Sulheddin Akper, said, according to Yeni Musavat.
Neither in his interviews to the journalists, nor during the meeting with the fire victims, Abutalibov answered the question who was responsible for using low quality siding, and how it could be that the state agencies, including the city hall, approved the use of the substandard material.
According to Minval.az, the investigation found out that a certificate about complying with the state standards and permissions of using the tiles as covering material had been submitted. According to the documents, polyurethane sheets produced by Global Stone Ltd. were certified by the Experimental and Testing Center (AzTEST) of the State Committee of Standardization, Metrology and Patent. The state service of fire surveillance of the Ministry of Emergency Situations gave a permission to use polyurethane as covering material which proved “high degree of fire resistance.”
The outlet also adds that there were people who connected the process of beginning of the process of covering building façades in the capital with the European Games which are starting in a few weeks. But really it is not so. The country was wrapped by the process of facing the buildings a few years earlier. “Along with the capital, it was also carried out in the regions. It is true that this process, which is nothing more than a banal ostentation (the beautiful siding veils the antediluvian ruins of houses), accelerated ahead of the European Games. But the problem is that for years many people warned that the polyurethane sheets are dangerous as they easily ignite. Still, as they say, Vaska was listening while eating his porridge. And those criticizing were labeled as “forces trying to discredit the image of the country,” Minval.az writes.
The author writes that when he and his colleague went to the “dead building” with flowers and candles at night, they were not allowed to put them anywhere. “But it is absurd, and even more than that. Why can’t I, a citizen of the country who shares the grief of the victims’ families, express my solidarity to them? A similar situation took place in 2009 during the terroristic attack of the State Oil Academy. From the first day of that tragedy the guides did not allow to put flowers on the stairs of the University. A year later, during the anniversary, no commemoration events were held regarding that incident. Instead, the country pompously holds the Flower Holiday every year 10 days after the incident. In that awful year, 12 were killed and 13 injured as a result of the shootout. But the authorities did not declare mourning. Now again, they do not declare it. One more example, at the end of the last year, the bloodiest clashes since the 1994 ceasefire took place on the front line as a result of which 18 Azerbaijani servicemen were killed. There was no mourning by then, too. I wonder how large-scale should the death spectrum be in Azerbaijan, so that the authorities declare mourning?” the outlet writes.
Commenting on the situation, the military expert Uzeir Jafarov says that the executive authorities and the Ministry of Emergency Situations are not ready for critical situations which the fire in the 16-storey building clearly showed. The expert told Faktxeber.com that it is necessary to be able to make decisions in critical situations, and not just drive expensive cars along the city roads. He added that even more awful tragedies are impending on Baku in the near future, and this fire was the result of the irresponsibility of the officials and state agencies.
Fire erupted in a multi-story building in Azadlig Avenue, 289, Baku on May 19. According to the information, the plastic cover of the building burnt down. The workers of the Fire Service of the Emergency Situations Ministry of Azerbaijan arrived at the scene. They managed to localize the fire. This is already the second case in one month that fire quickly spreads during the inferno because of the inflammable building materials.
Related:
Protests erupt in Baku demanding to remove sidings from buildings following dreadful fire
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