New Delhi:
At least 42 people were injured after a major blast took place at an explosives plant in Dzerzhinsk city of central Russia on Saturday morning. The incident occured around 11:45 am Moscow time (08:45 GMT) at the Kristall factory of the Nizhny Novgorod region, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Moscow. The blast shattered the windows in an area of three kilometres around the plant, affecting a part of the Russian city. However, no casualty has been reported in the incident so far.
"The blast took place at the "Kristall" factory in Dzerzhinsk about 400 kilometres east of Moscow in the Nizhny Novgorod region," the news agency ANI reported, quoting the local media.
Speaking to the news agency Interfax, a representative of the local health ministry said all of those who were injured in the explosion were taken to the nearby hopsital and are recieving medical assistance. "We are talking about shrapnel wounds of mild and moderate severity," she added.
Asked about the reason behind the blast, a spokesman of the local emergency ministry said there was a technical explosion in one of the workshops, followed by a fire of around 100 square meters.
#Update: Just in - The shockwave of the factory explosion was felt miles away from the blast, leaving some homes destroyed near it and lots of windows broken and facades crumbling. When a material factory who produced the substance of TNT, has exploded in #Dzerzhinsk #Russia pic.twitter.com/AtHUKGIPED
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) June 1, 2019
According to the representatives of Kristall, five people, who were inside the factory at the time of the blast, have been evacuated safely. Local fire fighters said they had no information about any more people stranded inside the plant.
In the wake of this major explosion, the authority has declared an emergency in the areas surrounding the plant in Dzerzhinsk, while the Investigative Committee of Russia has launched a criminal investigation over an alleged violation of safety rules.
Meanwhile, social media has been flooded with a series of dramatic pictures and footages of the incident, showing a huge mushroom cloud billowing out of the factory. In another factory blast, three people had last April lost their lives in Dzerzhinsk, which is believed to be one of the most polluted cities across the world.
