2023 Makhachkala gas station explosion

Last updated

2023 Makhachkala gas station explosion
Date14 August 2023
Time21:40 (MSK, UTC+3)
Location Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia
Coordinates 43°02′16″N47°27′07″E / 43.037648°N 47.451958°E / 43.037648; 47.451958
Deaths35
Non-fatal injuriesat least 80

On 14 August 2023, a gas station exploded in the city of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia, killing 35 people and injuring at least 80 others. [1] [2]

Contents

Explosion

The gas station involved in the explosion pictured in 2020 Novokuli 2020-03 gas station Nafta24 - Mapillary (514150803053256).jpg
The gas station involved in the explosion pictured in 2020

The explosion occurred at 21:40 MSK (18:40 UTC). [3] A fire had originally started at a nearby auto repair shop which later spread to the gas station. At some point two of the station's eight external gas tanks exploded, [4] killing 35 people and injuring at least 80, many of whom have suffered severe burns from the flaming fuel ejected in the explosion. [1] [5] The fire spread to an area of 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft), leading to a potential risk of further explosions. [3] Forty houses and a hotel were also damaged. [6]

According to the head of the Association of Gas Stations of Dagestan, 90–100 tons of ammonia nitrate, equivalent to 35 tons of TNT, was illegally stored across the street from the gas station and exploded in the fire. [7]

Aftermath

A state of emergency was declared in the Kumtorkalinsky district of Dagestan according to Governor Sergei Melikov. [3] The Ministry of Emergency Situations said it had sent aircraft to evacuate casualties to hospitals in Moscow. According to TASS, members of the Federal Center for Disaster Medicine of the Ministry of Health and members of various medical organizations in Moscow have come to Dagestan to help. As of 15 August 2023, search and rescue operations are still ongoing, with emergency workers still searching for survivors and clearing rubble. [2]

Investigation

The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case and launched an investigation into the explosion. [8]

Reactions

The government of Russia published messages of condolences from President Vladimir Putin and the President of Dagestan Sergey Melikov, in which they promised to pay 1 million Russian rubles to the families of the deceased, as well as declared a day of mourning. [9] According to the messages President Putin "expressed condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the explosion ... and wished a speedy recovery to the victims." [2] Authorities in Dagestan also said that the injured in the explosion would receive between 200,000 and 400,000 . [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makhachkala</span> City in Dagestan, Russia

Makhachkala previously known as Petrovskoye and Port-Petrovsk, or by the local Kumyk name of Anji, is the capital and largest city of Dagestan, Russia. The city is located on the Caspian Sea, covering an area of 468.13 square kilometres, with a population of over 623,254 residents, while the urban agglomeration covers over 3,712 square kilometres, with a population of roughly 1 million residents. Makhachkala is the fourth-largest city in the Caucasus, the largest city in the North Caucasus and the North Caucasian Federal District, as well as the third-largest city on the Caspian Sea. The city is extremely ethnically diverse, with a minor ethnic Russian population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domodedovo International Airport bombing</span> 2011 suicide bombing in a Moscow airport

The Domodedovo International Airport bombing was a suicide bombing in the international arrival hall of Moscow's Domodedovo International, in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, on 24 January 2011.

The following lists events from the year 2013 in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">December 2013 Volgograd bombings</span> Two suicide bombings in the city of Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast, Southern Russia

In December 2013, two separate suicide bombings a day apart targeted mass transportation in the city of Volgograd, in the Volgograd Oblast of Southern Russia, killing 34 people overall, including both perpetrators. The attacks followed a bus bombing carried out in the same city two months earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Saint Petersburg Metro bombing</span> 2017 terrorist attack by the Islamist militant group ISIL in Saint Petersburg, Russia

On 3 April 2017, a terrorist attack using an explosive device took place on the Saint Petersburg Metro between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations. Seven people were initially reported to have died, and eight more died later from their injuries, bringing the total to 15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Listvyazhnaya mine disaster</span> 2021 mining disaster in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia

The Listvyazhnaya mine disaster was a mining accident that occurred on 25 November 2021 in a coal mine in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. Smoke from a fire in a ventilation shaft caused the suffocation of over 40 miners. A failed attempt to rescue the trapped miners resulted in the deaths of at least five rescuers when the mine exploded. It is the deadliest mine accident in Russia since the 2010 Raspadskaya mine explosion in the same region.

The Russian mystery fires are a series of unusual fires and explosions that have occurred since the invasion of Ukraine, which have not been formally explained. There have been many notable arson attacks on military recruitment offices in Russia since the beginning of the war, and there has been speculation that some of the fires or explosions have been the result of sabotage efforts by Russian partisans or Ukrainian saboteurs.

With the beginning of mobilization in Russia, anti-war and anti-mobilization protests broke out in Chechnya, Dagestan and other regions of the Russian Caucasus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Izhevsk school shooting</span> 2022 school shooting in Izhevsk, Udmurtia, Russia

On 26 September 2022, a mass shooting occurred at a school in Izhevsk, Udmurtia, in west-central Russia. Eighteen people were killed and 23 others were wounded before the gunman, identified as Artem Kazantsev, committed suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimea attacks (2022–present)</span> Crimean Peninsula during the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022

Beginning in July 2022, a series of explosions and fires occurred on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from where the Russian Army had launched its offensive on Southern Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Occupied since 2014, Crimea was a base for the subsequent Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast and Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The Ukrainian government has not accepted responsibility for all of the attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Yeysk military aircraft crash</span> Plane crash in Russia

On the evening of 17 October 2022, a Su-34 military aircraft crashed into an apartment building in Yeysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

Events in the year 2023 in Russia.

On 20 December 2022, an explosion occurred on the Russian Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod gas pipeline, which supplies gas from Siberia to Europe through Ukraine.

On the evening of 23 December 2022, a private house operating as an unauthorized nursing home caught fire in Kemerovo, Russia, killing 22 people and injuring six.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magomed Abdulaev</span> Russian politician (1961–2023)

Magomed Imranovich Abdulaev, also spelled Abdulayev, was a Russian lawyer and politician who served as the Chairman of the Government of Dagestan from 2010 to 2013.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Massive explosion at a gas station in Russia's Dagestan kills 35 and injures scores more". AP News. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Pavlova, Uliana (15 August 2023). "Gas station explosion kills 35, injures dozens in Russia's Dagestan region". CNN. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Cooney, Christy (14 August 2023). "At least 35 die in inferno at petrol station in Dagestan southern Russia". BBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  4. "В Махачкале произошел мощный взрыв на автозаправке. Число погибших выросло до 27 человек". BBC News Русская служба (in Russian). 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  5. "В результате взрыва на автозаправке в Дагестане погибли 35 человек, 75 получили ранения В республике объявлен траур". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  6. "Названо число домов, поврежденных при взрыве на АЗС в Махачкале". news.ru. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  7. "«От тех, кто был ближе всего, ничего не осталось». Что известно о взрыве на заправке в Махачкале спустя сутки". BBC News Русская служба (in Russian). 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  8. "Investigative Committee opens criminal case over Makhachkala explosion". TASS. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  9. Troianovski, Anton (15 August 2023). "Dozens Reported Dead in Fire at Gas Station in Southern Russia". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2023.