ИСТИНА

Critical infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines, transmission facilities, heat-, and water supply, lines of communications, roads, railways as well as air and water transport play the key role in social and economic development of every country. Therefore, accidents causing failures and breakdowns of critical infrastructure facilities have the most drastic consequences for the society, economy, and environment. For example, road accidents cause the highest number of fatalities and injuries all over the world, especially in the middle-income countries. The so-called “blackouts” or accidental losses of electric power and power outages entail serious social troubles and heavy economic losses. The pipeline ruptures and oil-tanker crashes accompanied by oil releases cause the most severe environmental and large material damages. Critical infrastructure facilities are most vulnerable to the impacts of natural hazards that trigger many accidents in them especially in the regions most at natural risk.