BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 5
Trend:
Supporters of the riots are hampering the work of ambulances, damaging medical workers and destroying social facilities in Kazakhstan’s Almaty, the information center of the city commandant's office said, Trend reports citing Kazinform.
According to the Almaty Public Health Department, aggressive citizens are rushing into the polyclinics and hospitals of the city, damaging the property and equipment of the medical institutions.
"As a result of the unlawful actions, five ambulance workers, including two drivers and three paramedics, were injured. The injured persons were taken to the city hospitals,” the information center noted.
“At the same time, two ambulance cars were destroyed, the windows of the emergency room and the clinical diagnostic department were broken in the city’s cardiological center,” the center further said. “An act of vandalism was recorded near the first-aid station’s building in Almaly district. In the Nauryzbay district, the access of an ambulance car with a patient to the emergency room of the City Clinical Hospital No. 7 is blocked," the information center also noted.
Besides, supporters of the destructive actions are stopping ambulances and prevent from hospitalizing children.
"These actions impede the timely provision of medical care to patients and endanger the health and lives of citizens," added the center.
Kazakhstan's government announced late Jan. 4 that it was restoring some price caps on liquefied petroleum gas, after the rare protests reached Almaty following a sharp rise in the price of the fuel at the start of the year.
Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on LPG, which is far cheaper than gasoline as a vehicle fuel in Kazakhstan because of price caps. But the government argued that the low price was unsustainable and lifted the caps on Jan. 1.
After the price of the fuel spiked, big demonstrations erupted on Jan. 2 in certain parts of the country. Public protests are illegal in the country unless their organizers file a notice in advance.