Post date: May 09, 2013 6:6:42 PM
A blast on a freight train carrying chemical and oil products through the Rostov-on-Don region in Russia throws wreckage around 100 metres into the air and into an apartment block. Thirteen people are taken to hospital.
BELAYA KALITVA, ROSTOV-ON-DON REGION, RUSSIA (MAY 9, 2013) (REUTERS) - An explosion on a freight train carrying chemicals and oil products hurled part of a railcar into a residential block in southern Russia earlier on Thursday (May 9), injuring 27 people of whom 13 were taken to hospital, officials said.
The federal Investigative Committee said 69 railcars carrying sodium chloride, gasoline, fuel oil, propane and other goods derailed following an onboard fire nearBelaya Kalitva station in the Rostov-on-Don region, around 1,000 km (625 miles) south of Moscow.The blast hurled part of a railcar into the sixth floor wall of a residential block. No fatalities have been reported.
Despite the toxic contents of railcars, Emergencies Ministry's spokesman Ilya Konstantinov said that there was no danger neither for the residents, nor for the workers at the site.
"At the moment there are no dangers, neither from toxic substances, nor of another explosion or fire spreading across, for the residents as well as for the people working at the fire site," Konstantinov said.
A criminal investigation has been launched into possible safety breaches.