Shock wave: gas explosion in Saratov caused the collapse of the entrance

A gas explosion occurred in one of the apartments of a multi—storey building in Saratov on Blinova Street, as a result of the emergency, the corner entrance from the 10th to the seventh floor partially collapsed. According to the Izvestia source, three people, including one child, died as a result of the tragedy. The Ministry of Emergency Situations reports that the preliminary version is a leak and explosion of household gas. Details can be found in the Izvestia article

Explosion in Saratov today, July 25: what is known

The ten-storey building No. 2, where the tragedy occurred, is located on Blinova Street. As follows from the data of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, in one of the apartments there was a clap of a gas-air mixture without subsequent gorenje. The explosion caused the destruction of several floors of the corner entrance at once — from the 10th to the seventh. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, three people were killed, according to Izvestia sources, one of them is a child.

The Izvestia footage shows that the fallen structures collapsed onto parked cars and damaged them. Residents of the building immediately began to be evacuated — the threat of repeated collapse remains. The explosion was so strong that neighboring houses were also damaged by it — windows were blown out there. An eyewitness of the incident told Izvestia about this. According to her, the explosion occurred around 12 o'clock local time.

"The explosion was very strong, very strong indeed. At first we thought that maybe the car had exploded. We went out through the private sector, where houses were also hit, windows were knocked out, and the cladding was destroyed. Everything happened, you can say, in front of my eyes," she shared.

At the moment, fire and rescue units of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations are working at the site of the gas explosion, including 20 rescuers, dog handlers and eight pieces of equipment. They are dismantling the rubble and are working to find people who may be under the rubble.

Rescuers are recording requests for help from those who continue to be trapped under the rubble. It is reported about the first five rescued people, among whom there is a little girl. She escaped, despite being crushed by a concrete slab.

According to the governor of the region, Roman Busargin, an operational round-the-clock headquarters has been deployed on site, and a special hotline will start operating in the near future. For help, please call: 8 (937) 225-57-12 and 8 (8452) 63-33-73.

"The primary task now is to quickly carry out search and rescue operations and provide assistance to all the victims. All medical services are operating in an enhanced mode. It is also necessary to conduct an inspection of the building as soon as possible for the threat of further collapse. All necessary services and departments are involved in this work. Residents are being evacuated," the governor wrote on his Telegram channel.

The city administration has organized temporary accommodation facilities for residents of the house.

The investigators began checking

The Regional Investigative Committee reported that a criminal case has been opened into the provision of services that do not meet safety requirements.

"An investigative task force went to the scene of the incident. After the end of the rescue operations, an inspection of the accident site will be carried out and a set of necessary forensic examinations will be appointed, and other investigative actions will be carried out," the agency said.

The prosecutor's office of the Leninsky district of Saratov also organized an investigation into the incident. The agency reported that, on behalf of the prosecutor of the Saratov region, Sergei Filipenko, the prosecutor of the Leninsky district of Saratov, Konstantin Baykulov, went to the scene to coordinate the activities of the authorized services.

"The establishment of all the circumstances of the incident and the observance of the housing rights of residents is under the control of the prosecutor's office. Based on the results of the supervisory measures, if there are grounds, exhaustive measures of the prosecutor's response will be taken," follows from the official Telegram channel of the prosecutor's office of the Saratov region.

The gas explosion in Saratov is not the first man—made accident in Russia this year. The last time was in the Pskov region and Novorossiysk. In Velikiye Luki, four people were injured in a gas explosion, 14 more had to be evacuated, and a pensioner died in Novorossiysk.