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Kazakhstan's Fleeting Flame


A flame once burned here in Semey's Victory Square.
A flame once burned here in Semey's Victory Square.
Eternal doesn't mean what it used to.

The Eternal Flame in Victory Park in the northeastern Kazakh city of Semey -- built to remember the fallen of the country's civil war and World War II -- is flickering no more.

City officials in Semey -- formerly known as Semipalatinsk -- say the gas was cut off amid a bureaucratic delay in finding a cheap supplier.

Turns out it's not the first time this particular eternal flame has gone out. Previous flame-outs were blamed on strong winds, rain, and dust storms.

City officials say they can't predict when the flame will be turned back on.

-- RFE/RL's Kazakh Service

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