After that, for days, thousands of tons of clay, sand, boron, and dolomite, were dropped by helicopter into the burning reactor to quell the fire, but also to try and prevent the spread of radiation.
But it wasn't until 12,000 government forces were sent to quell a strike, and two railway workers were tragically killed that pressure mounted from the American workforce and Labor Day was put on the federal calendar.
" So there is a sense building on top of the pandemic that we are dealing with that there is a lack of leadership in the country to quell what is going on, " he told Newsweek.
The fire threat continued for the region early in the week, though higher humidity and lighter winds in the forecast are expected to help quell the fires in the coming days.
While there's no need yet to declare a state of emergency — a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting in 2005 — he added: " The state's response will be extremely firm."
The power grab, he said, was justified by the constitution and necessary to quell unrest over a sputtering economy and one of Africa's worst outbreaks of covid-19.
The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has questioned Kazakhstan's decision to seek Russian military support in quelling anti-government unrest, saying it might be difficult to get them to leave.