An explosion tore through an oil storage facility near Moscow this morning causing a huge blaze and killing at least two people.
“There was an explosion followed by a fire at the storage facility in Noginsk east of Moscow,” an emergencies ministry spokesman said.
“Two people were killed. About four people were injured.“
Interfax news agency said two petrol storage tanks and two railway tanks filled with fuel caught fire after the blast.
Interfax said nearly 200 people from a residential area and a maternity hospital, situated just 300 metres from the storage facility, had been evacuated.
It quoted sources in Moscow regional police as saying the explosions were most likely the result of workers failing to follow safety procedures while emptying a fuel tank.
But deputy regional governor Alexei Panteleyev told the agency that the inital blast ripped through a laboratory at the facility.
PA