There Was An Explosion At Russia's Largest Food Soda Production Facility

Twenty-five people have been taken to hospitals.

In Sterlitamak, Russia, there was a gas explosion at the production site of Bashkir Soda Company JSC (Kaustik complex). This was reported by the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the republic's authorities. According to the Emergencies Ministry, there was no fire, but 42 people and 15 units of equipment were involved to eliminate the consequences, writes The Moscow Times.

The Minister of Health of Bashkiria Airat Rakhmatullin said that 25 victims were taken to hospitals. "Nineteen ambulance crews are working at the site. Brigades of doctors promptly left Ufa by sanaviation. They include resuscitators, combustiologists and an ophthalmologist," he wrote in Telegram. In total, according to the SCR, at least 36 people were affected. No information has been received about the dead so far.

The BSC company explained to RBC that the accident occurred in preparation for a scheduled overhaul: a pyrogas process pipeline at the VC-PVC (vinyl chloride - polyvinyl chloride) complex depressurized along a weld seam. The damaged section was equipped with an automatic shut-off system, which allowed the leak to be promptly localized. The operation of the VC-PVC complex has been temporarily suspended.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bashkortostan has taken control of clarifying the circumstances of the accident. The regional department of the Investigative Committee has started an investigative check. "At present, the scene of the accident is being examined, eyewitnesses are being interviewed, and the investigation will establish all the causes and conditions that contributed to the accident," the Investigative Committee wrote in its Telegram channel.

Bashkir Soda Company is one of Russia's largest producers of soda ash and food soda, as well as a prominent player in the production of PVC, caustic soda and hydrochloric acid. The company is part of the Roskhim group of companies.

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