An explosion at a Russian military police facility in Sertolovo, near St Petersburg, has resulted in the collapse of several floors of the building. At least three people are reported to have been killed and several wounded in the blast on Tuesday.
According to St Petersburg’s 78 news channel, quoting an unnamed source, the incident occurred in the town of Sertolovo, north of Russia’s second largest city. Local website 47 News, citing emergency services, also reported three dead.
Unverified images shared by several media outlets appear to show the building’s two upper floors caved in with large piles of debris surrounding the structure. Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko said the cause of the collapse is under investigation.
Soldiers and security forces were dispatched to the scene to help clear the rubble and rescue potential victims, Governor Drozdenko said. There are fears the building could further collapse, Russia’s Lenta news site reported.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it opened an investigation into a potential fire safety violation. The committee stated, “It has been preliminarily established that there are casualties as a result of the incident.”
The blast occurred as another round of United States-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine started in Geneva, Switzerland. Expectations for the scheduled two days of talks are low with neither side appearing ready to budge from their positions on key territorial issues and future security guarantees.
Russia has been regularly hit with sabotage attacks on military bases and civilian infrastructure since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago. Gas leaks are a frequent cause of explosions in Soviet-era buildings in Russia, although authorities gave no immediate indication this was the cause.
Source: Al Jazeera
