Mass evacuation as railway gas tankers explode in Russia

February 05, 2014 05:12 pm | Updated May 18, 2016 06:09 am IST - Moscow

In this photo provided by the Ministry of Emergency Situations Kirov Branch press service, condensate gas leaked from tanks burns on the ice of the Vyatka River early on Wednesday near Posdino in Kirov region of Russia. 32 tankers were derailed and 12 of them caught fire. No casualties were reported. AP Photo

In this photo provided by the Ministry of Emergency Situations Kirov Branch press service, condensate gas leaked from tanks burns on the ice of the Vyatka River early on Wednesday near Posdino in Kirov region of Russia. 32 tankers were derailed and 12 of them caught fire. No casualties were reported. AP Photo

Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry has said several dozen railway containers carrying gas have derailed and caught fire northeast of Moscow, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of local residents.

The ministry said that the accident occurred on Wednesday at a railway station in the city of Kirov, about 800 kilometers northeast of Moscow, when 32 containers loaded with gas condensate derailed and caught fire. It said no one was hurt.

The ministry says the massive fire engulfed a large area around the station, forcing the evacuation of about 700 residents of several nearby apartment buildings.

Several hundred emergency workers were involved in efforts to extinguish the blaze, which has halted traffic on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

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