Uzbek Bus Blast Sparks Safety Checks

Car mechanics in Uzbekistan say they fear losing their jobs as the authorities launch nationwide checks following two accidents involving gas-powered vehicles. 

The checks come after a May 11 accident in which seven people died and 11 were injured when a commuter bus exploded in the Uzbek capital Tashkent.

The interior ministry blamed the accident on faulty installation of a fuel system allowing the bus to run on gas.

Four days later, a truck was completely destroyed in a similar explosion in a Tashkent suburb. The driver survived.

Many vehicles in Uzbekistan have been converted to compressed natural gas, CNG, as a cheaper alternative to petrol, diesel. CNG is stored in gaseous form, unlike the liquefied petroleum gas increasingly used in many countries.

Experts believe most CNG conversions have been carried out without the required safety certification.

On May, 16, a special commission drawn from the traffic police, the Ministry for Emergency Situations, the Ecological Movement and the prosecutor’s office started checking vehicle repair shops for their compliance with safety regulations and equipment certificates.

A worker at one car repair shop is in favour of the checks, and better regulation for the industry generally, although he accepts that many workshops will be ordered to close as a result.

Conversions to CNG became popular in the mid-Nineties because petrol was in short supply, and was of poor quality even when it was available. In later years, high petrol prices further encouraged the trend.

Petrol currently costs between one and 1.50 US dollars a litre, while propane-butane gas costs half that amount and methane a quarter.

“We save a lot by using gas”, said Alexei, a bus driver. “If you use petrol, you’ll spend all earnings on it”.

A proper conversion costs between 120 to 400 dollars for the parts. Many drivers cannot afford that amount, so workshops install second-hand Chinese systems that are often unsuited to modern car engines.

“Every week, we hear of another explosion on the roads,” said taxi driver Bekzod, a local taxi driver. “If there’s a collision, the equipment ruptures and the tiniest spark will ignite a fire. Most often, no one survives.”

Another taxi driver, Anvar, who shuttles between Tashkent and the Fergana valley, admits his car has an unsafe conversion kit which poses a risk to his passengers. But he says he has little other choice. If he is forced to, he will either have to buy the expensive equipment or go back to petrol.

Alexander Vaskov, who runs a repair shop in Tashkent, says that to follow through on the safety checks, the authorities will also have to monitor the competence with which modern conversion kits are installed.

He says some mechanics fit the gas cylinders to car boot lids, in contravention of all safety rules.

“In the Matiz and Tico models [manufactured under license in Uzbekistan], the gas cylinders are almost touching the ground. Even a small bump by the car behind will damage the equipment and cause a leak of explosive gas,” he explained.

This article was produced as part of IWPR’s News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.