Not The Cylinder: Polatsk Explosion Cause Remains Unknown

The investigation is ongoing.

On December 5, late in the evening, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported an explosion in the agricultural town of Zaharnichy, Polatsk region. Rescuers assumed that it was a cylinder that had exploded. However, Polatskgaz specialists denied this.

According to Polatskgaz, the integrity of the liquefied gas cylinder and the two-burner stove is not compromised. The taps on the stove and the gas cylinder valve are closed.

The investigation is ongoing and it is not yet known what caused the explosion.

Yesterday at about 19:30 an explosion occurred in one of the apartments of a two-level building in the agricultural town of Zakharnichy.

Residents of the eight-apartment building — 13 people — were evacuated. Three were taken to Polatsk central city hospital: two adults and a child.

A 13-year-old teenager is hospitalized with hyperglycemia (a condition when the blood glucose level in a patient with diabetes increases). A woman born in 1940 and a man born in 1976 were taken to hospital with injuries. The pensioner's condition is moderate, the man's condition is serious.