There was also a school and a kindergarten left without power supply by that time, added emergencies ministry PR as they summed up efforts to cope with a disastrous accident that hit Moscow and a vast area around, early yesterday afternoon.
The Moscow city telephone network had no major dialing problems, and has by now reinstated permanent electric supply of all its projects, said Anatoli Vereschagin, company press secretary.
"True, there were minor failures at several phone exchanges with the accident-but they all promptly switched to their own standby power units," he added.
Water samples are taken from the Moskva River once every three hours, says the municipal environment protection board.
"The river got dirty as the huge power failure paralyzed several sewage filtering stations. We are taking samples all along the river, within the city limits and far downstream," its spokesman told Novosti.
Experts warn the population against bathing and fishing in the river.
Drinking water is never taken from the Moskva, so there are no problems with it, they reassure.
