DUSHANBE, December 17, Asia-Plus  -- A recent gas blast was a major topic of a December 17 meeting of the Dushanbe capital mayor’s office presided over by its head Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev. 

Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor, said that senior representatives from the capital law enforcement agencies and top managers of a number of construction companies had attended the meeting.   

The Dushanbe prosecutor’s office is investigating the gas blast, and speaking at the meeting, the Dushanbe chief prosecutor Qurbonali Muhabbatov reported on a progress of the investigation.   

According to him, criminal proceedings will be instituted against a group of workers of Dushanbegaz (Dushanbe natural-gas-distributor), who committed negligence that caused the tragedy.     

The relevant bodies were charged to consider the issue of payment by Dushanbegaz of compensations to the blast-affected  people, the spokesman said.   

We will recall that a gas blast occurred in a four-storey residential building in one of housing estates of Dushanbe on December 7.  According to official data provided by the Ministry of Interior (MoI), seven persons were injured by the blast.  Some source said that six apartments had been destroyed completely and more than 30 apartments had been damaged seriously.  The blast was so powerful that it blew out the windows of nearby buildings. 

During the meeting, the mayor also demanded that construction of facilities, which are funded from the city budget, should be carried out in accordance with schedule.