Russia petrol station fire death toll rises to 27

At least 27 people were killed in an explosion and fire at a petrol station in Russia’s Dagestan, emergency medicine center said Tuesday.

Another 60 people were injured in the fire in Makhachkala, said the regional deputy health minister, Viktor Fisenko.

Makhachkala, a city of over 600,000 residents on the Caspian Sea, is the capital of Dagestan, a Russian republic bordering Chechnya, which shares a border with Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The explosion took place at a car service station, where a fire had broken out during maintenance work, the Russian Federation’s Investigative Committee for Dagestan said on Telegram.

“A fire occurred during car maintenance work, followed by a bang, as a result of which people were injured and died,” it said, adding that nearby buildings and cars were damaged.

A criminal case has been opened to establish the circumstances leading up to the incident, it said.

The state-run TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies reported that the fire had been extinguished, citing Russia’s Emergency Ministry.