Explosion of oil tanks kills two in Moscow region

The fire has been classified as an accident of highest complexity

Two explosions rocked the oil storage depot in the town of Noginsk, the Moscow region, on Wednesday morning. Reservoirs of petrol went on fire as a result of the explosion, a spokesman for the Russian EMERCOM, Viktor Beltsov said.

Two people were killed as a result of the blaze at the oil storage depot in Noginsk, another person was hospitalized in severe condition. The blasts occurred at 6:02 and 6:09 Moscow time. Railway tank-cars on spur tracks went on fire immediately after the blasts. The fire enveloped two reservoirs of petrol (5,000 and 1,000 cubic meters) and two tank-cars.

The fire at the oil storage depot in Noginsk has been localized, Vice Governor of the Moscow region, Aleksey Panteleyev said. “The current situation gives us a hope that the fire will be extinguished completely within two hours,” the official said.

The fire at the oil depot in Noginsk has been supposedly caused with explosions in an oil laboratory, which is situated on the territory of the oil base. The lab analyzes the quality of oil. According to Panteleyev, the fire occurred because of violation of safety rules, when petrol was being poured off a 12-ton tank.

Russian emergency services started evacuating people living in neighboring buildings. About 200 people have already been evacuated from a residential area situated some 300 meters far from the oil storage depot.

The fire has been classified as an accident of highest complexity. Twenty-three firefighting brigades, a fire helicopter and two special fire trains are currently trying to extinguish the fire at the oil base in Noginsk. The base is located on the town's territory. Furthermore, there is a maternity hospital near the base. The vice governor of the Moscow region could not specify the amount of oil stored at the depot, although the official said that there were four tank cars kept at the oil depot.