Pprd belarus en

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ENVIRONMENT- CIVIL PROTECTION > BELARUS

We have a big fire here, we need help There has been a major accident at a chemical plant in Belarus, and www.enpi-info.eu forest fires are raging through the region. Neither Belarus nor Ukraine can cope with the disaster alone, rescuers are badly needed to face the emergency: so Belarus is now asking for help… Fortunately the event is not real, it is just a simulation exercise, and the staged emergency is addressed through a computer based information exchange. This training is part of the EU-funded Programme for Prevention, Preparedness and Response to natural and Man-Made Disasters in the Eastern Partnership countries (PPRD East). A journalist from the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre was following the story. Here is her report. Text by Tanya Korovenkova Pictures by AFP © EU Neighbourhood INFO CENTRE

This publication does not represent the official view of the EC or the EU institutions. The EC accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to its content.

MINSK - There has been a major accident at a chemical plant in Belarus, and forest fires are raging even in Ukraine. What to do? Neither country can cope with the disaster alone, rescuers are badly needed: so Belarus is asking for help... Fortunately, the event is not real. It is just a simulation exercise taking place at the Command-and-Engineering Institute at the Ministry for Emergency Situations, in Belarus. The initiative is part of the EU-funded Programme for Prevention, Preparedness and Response to natural and Man-Made Disasters in the Eastern Partnership countries (PPRD East). In the hall of the Institute, representatives from Belarus and Ukraine are sitting opposite each other in front of their computers: a large screen shows all the messages that the participants are exchanging. Ukranian rescuers are reporting a major forest fire on the border between the two countries, with details about EU Neighbourhood Info Centre the size of the affected area and the intensity of the fire. The messages Feature no. 110 quickly slide across the screen, replacing each other: the Ukrainians cannot extinguish the fire by themselves and are asking their colleagues from Belarus to come and help. As soon as the request arrives, Belarus experts start discussing ways to get their rescuers and machines to the emergency site, and how to lay out routes and to transport commodities.

This is a series of features on projects funded by the EU Regional Programme, prepared by journalists and photographers on the ground or the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre. © 2013 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre


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