World
Fire at petrol station in Russia kills 30 including three children
A fire at a petrol station in Dagestan, Russia has killed 30 people including three children.
The blaze started at a car repair shop on the roadside of a highway in Dagestan capital Makhachkala before spreading to a nearby petrol station, officials said.
Footage posted online showed a one-storey building ablaze.
“It’s like a war here,” said a witness to the fire in the southern Russian region.
The number of people injured rose to 105, a number of which were airlifted to Moscow for treatment.
Thirteen of the wounded are children, according to the Dagestan health ministry.
Pic: Ministry of Emergency Situations press service
It took fire fighters more than three and a half hours to put out the fire that spread into an area of 600 sq m, TASS reported, citing a statement from the Russian emergency service.
Russian authorities have begun a criminal investigation.
Pic: Ministry of Emergency Situations press service
Families of the victims will receive 1m rubles (£7,870) each, and those injured will get 200,000-400,000 rubles (£1,600-£3,150), according to Dagestan authorities.