Tornado scatters planes in Tatarstan

A hurricane wind with hail and snow hit Tatarstan. At the Nizhnekamsk airport, a tornado lifted several planes from the airfield, scattered them and crashed them, the Kazan No. 1 Telegram channel reported . The scale of the incident was confirmed by Kommersant and RBC , which contacted the airport.

The tornado hit the Begishevo passenger airfield at around 15:00 and knocked over four Diamond-42 training aircraft belonging to the St. Petersburg University of Civil Aviation. The tornado then overturned an AS350 recreational helicopter, a fuel tanker, three buses, and damaged three hangars and a concrete fence. Eyewitnesses who shared the video described how the wind tore off the roofs of neighboring buildings before their eyes. An alarm was declared at the airfield and an emergency rescue team was deployed.

Two people were injured, the Naberezhnye Chelny Online Telegram channel clarified . The extent of the damage to the airport is still being clarified, Begishevo continued to operate.

The airfield belongs to the KAMAZ concern and is sometimes used as a reserve if the Kazan airport does not accept flights.

The Tatarstan Ministry of Emergency Situations issued a storm warning for Tuesday, July 30, and Wednesday, July 31. Forecasters predicted strong winds of up to 24 meters per second. On Tuesday afternoon, Kazan and neighboring settlements were covered with hail, and a layer of snow formed on the streets. "The hail was about half a centimeter in diameter. This happens," the Ministry of Emergency Situations employees told the Pod'em publication.

The Kazan airfield was not damaged, the wind force was "insufficient to cause catastrophic damage to the city's infrastructure," the Emergencies Ministry explained. By the evening of July 30, heavy rains with squally winds reached Naberezhnye Chelny and Volgograd.

To get the main news faster, subscribe to our telegram and twitter .