The death toll from an explosion at a filling station in Russia's Makhachkala has gone up to 27, TASS News Agency reported citing Sergey Mekilov, head of the Dagestan Region.
"As of 6:00 a.m. local time (3:00 a.m. GMT) on August 15, the tragedy killed 27 people and left 102 injured," Melikov’s press service quoted him as saying.
According to the regional head, there were three children among those killed.
The explosion occurred opposite a filling station in Makhachkala on Monday night. Following this, fire erupted in the area which reached 600 square meters. The open fire was extinguished.
Earlier, while Speaking to reporters, Dagestan Head Sergey Melikov said that the explosion occurred opposite the filling station. Melikov said that the "causes and nature" of the explosion are being determined, TASS reported.
As per the news report, two out of eight fuel tanks exploded. More than 70 people and 20 pieces of equipment were involved in containing the fire. Police and city officials were moving people away from the spot as there is a risk of a second explosion.
According to the regional prosecutor’s office, an inspection has been conducted in connection with the fire at the filling station, TASS reported. Senior Dagestani officials reached at the site of the incident while the first deputy head of the Russian Health Ministry Viktor Fisenko arrived in Dagestan.
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