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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/09/ukraine-firefighters-feared-dead-fuel-depot-explosion-vasylkiv
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Ukraine firefighters feared dead after fuel depot explosion | Ukraine firefighters feared dead after fuel depot explosion |
(34 minutes later) | |
Several Ukrainian firefighters are feared to have died after a blast tore through a fuel depot outside Kiev, sparking a huge fire that spread to nearby buildings. | Several Ukrainian firefighters are feared to have died after a blast tore through a fuel depot outside Kiev, sparking a huge fire that spread to nearby buildings. |
Videos posted online showed the force of the explosion and the heatwave it produced, setting alight fire trucks that had rushed to the scene. A fireman wearing a silver heat-resistant suit and mask was seen running away from the scene of the disaster. “Everyone – leave. Whoever is still here – leave,” one fireman said in a video. | Videos posted online showed the force of the explosion and the heatwave it produced, setting alight fire trucks that had rushed to the scene. A fireman wearing a silver heat-resistant suit and mask was seen running away from the scene of the disaster. “Everyone – leave. Whoever is still here – leave,” one fireman said in a video. |
The interior minister, Arsen Avakov, said the initial explosion hit a fuel depot near the village of Vasylkiv, 20 miles (32km) south-west of Kiev. | |
“Gigantic. Firemen have died,” Avakov tweeted. His later Twitter updates said several firemen initially presumed to have died had been pulled out alive from the flames. | “Gigantic. Firemen have died,” Avakov tweeted. His later Twitter updates said several firemen initially presumed to have died had been pulled out alive from the flames. |
A spokesman for Ukraine’s emergencies ministry told AFP it was aware of six people being injured. | A spokesman for Ukraine’s emergencies ministry told AFP it was aware of six people being injured. |
Kiev has been suffering from a dry hot spell for more than a week. Police said the fire, which began in one fuel tank and spread to others, was likely to have been started by a technical fault but the cause was not yet fully clear | |
The fuel depot hit by the initial explosion is owned by a Ukrainian company called BRSM-Nafta, which operates a chain of filling stations. | The fuel depot hit by the initial explosion is owned by a Ukrainian company called BRSM-Nafta, which operates a chain of filling stations. |
A nearby filling station firm called KLO said it was also evacuating its staff from the scene. “The danger is real,” the company’s co-owner, Vyacheslav Steshenko, told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. |