A fire and explosion at a petrol station in the southern Russian region of Dagestan has killed at least 25 people, including three children, and injured dozens, the Interfax news agency reported citing regional emergency medics.
The fire started at an auto repair shop on the roadside of a highway in the Dagestani capital Makhachkala, which is located on the Caspian Sea, on Monday night and caused blasts spreading to a nearby petrol station, officials said earlier on Tuesday.
“It’s like a war here,” a witness told the Reuters news agency.
The number of people injured rose to some 66, 10 of whom are in critical condition, RIA news agency said quoting Russian Deputy Health Minister Vladimir Fisenko. Thirteen of the wounded are children, Interfax reported citing the Dagestani health ministry.
An aircraft had been dispatched to Makhachkala to evacuate the seriously injured to Moscow, Russia’s emergency situations ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
The explosion took place at 9:40pm (18:40 GMT) on Monday night, Sergei Melikov, head of the Dagestan administration, said on Telegram.
A witness quoted on Telegram by the Russian daily Izvestia said the fire started in an area where cars were parked and spread to the petrol station.
“After the explosion, everything fell on our heads, we couldn’t see anything any more,” the unnamed witness was quoted as saying.
A video posted on Telegram by the RIA news agency showed flames rising from a building, followed by a huge explosion.
The fire spread over an area of approximately 600 square metres (6,450 sq ft), the ministry said, adding that 260 firefighters were deployed.
It took firefighters more than three and a half hours to put out the fire, the TASS state news agency reported, citing a statement from the Russian emergency service.
Two people were also killed and five injured in an explosion at the Talinskoye oil field in Russia’s oil-rich Khanty-Mansiisk (Yugra) region of West Siberia, RIA reported on Monday.
According to RIA, the fire broke out in an area of 100 sq meters. It was initially unclear how the explosion occurred.
Source: Al Jazeera
BDST: 0940 HRS, AUG 15, 2023
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