International disaster prevention exercises will be held in the Vitebsk region

May 28, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Large-scale Belarusian-Latvian-Lithuanian disaster prevention exercises will be held on June 23-24 in the Miory and Polotsk districts of the Vitebsk region. This was announced to a BELTA correspondent by Vasily Chekan, head of the Vitebsk Regional Emergency Situations Department. He is participating in an international meeting of representatives of the emergency services of the countries participating in the exercises. The event will take place within the framework of the international technical assistance project "Strengthening Regional Capacity for Prevention and Response to Chemical Accidents with Transboundary Consequences in the Belarus-Latvia-Lithuania Region," designed for 2008-2009. The European Union has allocated over 1 million euros for its implementation. The exercises will be related to the elimination of the consequences of an accident resulting from a pipeline rupture. Employees of the emergency services of Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia will have to implement a set of measures that are taken in such situations, and work out the coordination of interaction in eliminating the accident and its consequences. In addition, it is necessary to develop practical joint actions in the event of other emergencies. Personnel and various specialized equipment will be involved in the exercises. This will allow for a fuller demonstration of the potential capabilities of rescuers from the three countries, Vasily Chekan added. -0-