The number of people injured in a series of blasts and a fire at the Kristall plant in the Russian city of Dzerzhinsk has increased to 42, a spokesperson for the Russian Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters told Sputnik on Saturday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2019) The number of people injured in a series of blasts and a fire at the Kristall plant in the Russian city of Dzerzhinsk has increased to 42, a spokesperson for the Russian Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters told Sputnik on Saturday.Three explosions and a fire occurred at Kristall plant's trinitrotoluene production workshop earlier in the day. An emergency services spokesperson told Sputnik earlier on Saturday that 27 people had been injured in the incident.
"There are 38 injured. Four of them [remain] in serious [condition], 25 in moderate [condition], while nine [of them have been slightly injured]," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson for the ministry later specified to Sputnik that 38 workers from the Kristall plant were injured and that additionally, four local inhabitants of the city sustained injures as well. A total of 14 people were currently hospitalized with moderate injuries, the spokesperson added.
According to the spokesperson, the fire covered 1,200 square meters (12,900 square feet), which included 800 square meters of the plant and 400 square meters of the neighboring forest.
According to preliminary data, the incident claimed no lives.
Over 300 people and 50 pieces of equipment are dealing with the consequences of the incident, Russian Emergencies Ministry's Nizhny Novgorod Regional Department chief Valery Sinkov said.
"At 11.50 [local time, 08:50 GMT], we received information that an explosion had occurred on the territory of the Kristall plant, as a result of which one of the workshops collapsed, and a fire broke out. ... Currently, more than 300 people and almost 50 pieces of equipment are involved at the site," Sinkov said, as quoted by the regional government's press service.
He stressed that there was no threat to local population, as well as no need for evacuation.
The Russian Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case on violation of safety regulations at explosive facilities after the incident. After the rescuers complete the work, the investigators will proceed to inspect the scene, it added.
