A nine-story building exploded in St. Petersburg

In St. Petersburg, on the night of Saturday, March 23, an explosion occurred that destroyed the ceilings on several floors of a residential building. Eight people were taken to hospital, one woman died.

The explosion occurred at about eight o'clock in the evening in an apartment on the fourth floor of nine-story building No. 6 on Nastavnikov Avenue in the Krasnogvardeisky district of St. Petersburg. The shock wave knocked out an external wall on two floors, glass flew out of the windows, and part of the fourth floor went to the third. Several balconies in the house collapsed, and the ceilings along the elevator shaft partially collapsed. Rescuers managed to arrive quickly - at 20:10 they were already extinguishing the fire that flared up after the explosion.

As a result, no one was killed at the time of the explosion; eight wounded residents were hospitalized. The man, who was considered dead, was pulled out from under the rubble and taken to the hospital. One of the victims died at night in the hospital from her injuries. Now several people wounded in the explosion and fire are in the burn center on Budapest Street, and several more people are in the hospital on Solidarity Street. Four victims, according to doctors, are still in serious condition.

About 90 people were evacuated and sent to spend the night in a nearby school building, Ekho Moskvy reports.

The cause of the explosion in a nine-story building in St. Petersburg was careless handling of a gas cylinder. At the same time, Petersburggaz claims that the building on Nastavnikov Street is not supplied with gas, Fontanka reports. Perhaps one of the residents simply brought a gas cylinder from their dacha to their apartment for the winter and, not knowing how to handle it correctly, blew themselves up and their neighbors.

By morning the rubble was cleared. The Investigative Committee for St. Petersburg opened a criminal case under the article “Causing grievous bodily harm through negligence.” Those found guilty face arrest for up to six months. “The scene of the incident is currently being inspected and other actions are being taken to establish all the circumstances of the incident. The progress of the criminal investigation is under the special control of the leadership of the State Investigative Directorate,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations reports.

A hotline has been opened regarding the explosion, its number is 8-800-100-20-01.