Massive blast rocks gas station in southern Russia (VIDEO)

A gas station in the center of Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechen Republic, was destroyed in a powerful explosion on Friday. Four people died in the incident, according to the local emergency services.

The blast at the station located near the busy Muhammad Ali Avenue in Grozny was caught on numerous videos that surfaced on social media. They show the venue quickly catching fire, with a massive explosion rocking the area soon afterwards. A huge fireball is seen rising above nearby buildings, with plumes of thick black smoke covering the sky.

Some videos also show a huge fuel tank being thrown by a powerful shockwave. The tank is seen smashing a car before hitting a nearby building. Russian Telegram channels reported that it hit and killed a woman and two children walking nearby.

The local emergency services confirmed the deaths of four people in the incident, including two children aged four and six. The two adults that perished in the blast were a young woman aged 25 and a truck driver who was at the gas station at the time of the blast.

According to some Telegram channels, the explosion took place as the truck was pumping gas to the station’s fuel tanks. According to the local authorities, the incident was caused by “safety violations during fuel transfer that caused [fuel] to catch fire.”

Five people also sustained injuries in the incident, the regional Health Ministry said. They were treated on the spot and did not require hospitalization. Videos on social media show a crowd of people running in panic and seeking shelter at the time of the blast.

Dozens of firefighters arrived at the scene and quickly brought the fire under control, according to Russian media.

According to RBK, the Russian authorities conducted a safety inspection at the gas station in 2021 and found nine security breaches, including a lack of automatic control mechanisms and leak detectors.