The illegal storage of agrochemicals is being investigated as the possible cause of a deadly explosion and fire on Aug. 14 at a gasoline station in Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan, about 990 miles south of Moscow. The blast killed 35 people, including three children, and injured 115 others.
The Russian Investigative Committee said the explosion on the outskirts of Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala, took place after an initial fire broke out in an auto service building and spread to another room where fertilizer might have been stored, according to a Radio Free Europe report.
The fire engulfed nearby structures, including a gasoline station, and took firefighters four hours to extinguish. Media reports cited local emergency officials as saying that blazing fuel covered people who had come to watch the fire. Aug. 15 was declared a day of mourning in Dagestan.
The Investigative Committee, as cited by the report, announced that it had launched a probe into “providing services that do not correspond to the safety regulations, which led to the death of the people.” Russia’s Criminal Code provides for a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for the crime.
In a separate incident, a large fire broke out on Aug. 13 at a fertilizer warehouse in the town of Ramenskoye in the Moscow region. No injuries were reported. The Moscow region prosecutor’s office said the preliminary cause of the fire was a violation of fire safety requirements during welding work, according to a TASS report.