A blast at a gas station resulted in 35 deaths and injuries to over 115 individuals on Monday August 14.
The incident occurred in Dagestan, located in southern Russia, as reported by Russia’s Health Ministry. The incident occurred near Makhachkala, the regional capital, and was caused by a fire that began in a car repair shop close to the gas station and subsequently spread.
Sixty-five injured individuals, including 16 children, were sent for medical care. Among them, 11, with two being children, were critically injured. The list of deceased victims includes three children.
Dagestan’s governing body marked Tuesday as a day of mourning. They pledged financial support for the victims and their families. The families of those who passed away are slated to receive one million rubles (around $10,000). Financial assistance for the injured will vary between 200,000 and 400,000 rubles (equivalent to $2,000-$4,000).
The explosion prompted a criminal investigation by the authorities. This incident is notably the deadliest since a fire incident in Tver in April 2022, which caused 22 fatalities.
On the same night as the gas station fire, another unrelated explosion in an oil mine in Siberia’s Khanty-Mansiysk region resulted in two deaths and injuries to five individuals. The event in Dagestan adds to a series of explosions in Russia, including one near Moscow earlier in the month.
