MAKHACHKALA, Russia -- The Russian Investigative Committee said late on August 15 that illegal storage of agrochemicals is one of a number of theories under consideration as it searches for the cause of an explosion in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Daghestan that killed 35 people.
Investigators said the explosion and fire took place in the city of Makhachkala after a fire broke out in an automobile service building and spread to another room where fertilizer might have been stored. The fire, which also engulfed nearby structures, including a gasoline station, took four hours for firefighters to extinguish, investigators said.
The Investigative Committee announced earlier that it had launched a probe into "providing services that do not correspond to the safety regulations, which led to the death of people."
Russia's Criminal Code envisions a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for the crime.
Russia's Summer Of Fires
The committee said late on August 15 that the initial inspection of the scene was completed.
Russia's Health Ministry said at least three children were among those who lost their lives, while the Emergency Ministry said more than 80 were injured.
Daghestan's leader, Sergei Melikov, proclaimed August 15 as a mourning day across the republic and announced a state of emergency in the Kumtorkala district.
Rescue teams used helicopters and planes to evacuate the critically wounded. An Emergency Ministry plane arrived in Makhachkala to transport severely wounded individuals to hospitals in Moscow.
According to investigators' initial assessment, the explosion occurred after the fire spread to the gasoline station, leading to a presumption that two cisterns holding gasoline had exploded. The assessment late on August 15 didn't say whether that theory was still among those under consideration as the cause of the explosion.
Media reports cited local emergency officials as saying that blazing fuel covered people who had come to watch the fire at the automobile service building.
The service building and the gasoline station are located close to the Globus shopping center and the fire attracted many customers.
Last weekend, a gas leak caused an explosion in Daghestan's city of Derbent, killing a teenager and injuring four people.
Last week, another explosion caused by a gas leak, injuring eight people, including a child.