Violation of safety rules may have caused an explosion at a gas station in the capital of Chechnya, Grozny. As a result of the explosion, four people died and at least five were injured. One of the fatalities is the man who recorded the incident.
An interlocutor with the Russian state agency TASS said that “according to preliminary information, safety rules were violated when pumping fuel, which resulted in its ignition.”
Down explosion at a gas station in the capital of Chechnya (a republic in the Russian Federation) occurred on Saturday afternoon. Russian media and Telegram channels reported at the time that she was in the middle of a residential estate. During the explosion, one of the fuel tanks (some sources reported that it contained gas) flew several hundred meters, reaching the yard of one of the buildings where people were staying. Four people died as a result of this incident: a man, a woman and two children aged five and six. At least five people were injured.
After the first explosion at the gas station, several more occurred. The shock wave broke windows in nearby houses and damaged seven cars. The fire covered an area of ​​900 square meters. 37 firefighters fought it, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry reported on Saturday evening.
A gas station in Grozny at the time of the explosion Reuters
Three explosions
On Tuesday, three days after the explosion, journalists from the Russian website E1 quoted a resident of a building located near a gas station as saying that her neighbor had died as a result of the explosion. The man came from Yekaterinburg (a city in the Urals) and worked in Grozny. When the fire broke out at the station, he was in the yard of his building, along with others.
– Everything happened very quickly. There was an explosion, everyone started running away, but he didn't run away. He stood there and recorded with his phone, said interlocutor E1. She said there were two explosions and then a third. Her neighbor didn't have time to escape and was crushed by the burning tank.
Gas station in Grozny after the explosion Reuters
A resident of Grozny confessed that she “still sees” the tank rolling and burning. – I still have it all in my mind, like something big, round and fiery flying. Nobody had time to think about anything, she said.
Gas station in Grozny after the explosion Reuters
Gross violations
The TASS news agency reported that the gas station was completely destroyed. The Mash Telegram channel recalled that the last inspection of this facility was carried out in 2021. Inspectors then discovered numerous flagrant violations, all related to safety.
Main photo source: Reuters