Helios calculates damage and offers rented housing to victims of petrol truck accident

Damages to owners of the cars that burnt in the petrol truck accident in Almaty have been evaluated, Tengrinews.kz reports. According to Marketing and Sales Director of Helios company Denis Trandafilov, the decision on restoration of cars or payment of compensations to the car owners will be made by the evaluating commission. The total of 10 cars were damaged in the fire and 4 more were grazed by the tank track in the traffic accident, he said. If the owners of the burnt apartments agree to have their apartments restored the repairs will be made within 1.5 months, he said. According to him, the property and the housing have already been checked. The company is now waiting for the evaluation results and the residents will then be able to receive monetary compensation or have the company's contractors repair their housing. “Two apartments that burnt to ashes have already been evaluated and the owners gave their consent for the repairs; the works have already started. The contractors will work in three shifts. The noisiest works will, of course, be made during daytime,” Trandafilov said. Rented apartments have been provided to 15 families by the company, he added. “The scaffolds were installed on Thursday. We will have to agree with the city administration on the building’s face, as it has to blend into the surroundings well. The asphalt has been laid on the damaged roads and sideways, new trees will be planted. We will also restore the building’s entrance, as soon as we are done with the property evaluation,” the company’s representative said. According to the company’s lawyer Serikbol Zhunussov, the company hired a real estate firm for selection and provision of the rented housing to 15 families that suffered from fire. “The remaining victims moved over to their relatives. And some are away on business trips. 15 families are those whose apartments were damaged significantly and they literally have nowhere to live,” he said and adding that apartments were initially rented for one month. The company is ready to prolong the rent if their is a need. Zhunussov stressed that all the victims of the petrol truck fire who need temporary housing may apply to Helios. “We are trying to create good conditions for them, so that they don’t live in tents and schools,” he said adding that size of families and their requests were considered during choice of the rented apartments. The evaluation process will last until the end of the week. “As soon as the reports are ready, we will know the amounts of damages per each apartment separately and we will pay these amounts to the owners of the apartments, if they prefer to the monetary compensation to the repairs. The decision will be made once the results are ready. There are people who prefer monetary compensations as they want to make the repairs themselves,” the lawyer said. The life of the driver who died in the flaring was insured, he said. “Right now the insurance company is calculating ]the payment that has to be made to his family. To make the calculations they need results of the check on the driver’s body and the truck from us. All that will affect the insurance payment,” the lawyer said. He added that the company was ready to provide a job to the driver’s wife, if she wished to take it. The petrol tank lorry flared up near Rixos hotel in Almaty at the crossing of Seifullin and Kabanbay Batyr streets after crashing into an offroader on June 27. The truck’s driver died at the accident site because his door got jammed and he could not get out of the truck before the petrol inflamed. The fire moved on to the RealSport sports shop, and #138 Kabanbay Batyr residential building. According to the rescuers, 40 people were evacuated from the building. No casualties were reported. By Assemgul Kassenova