New footage circulating online appears to show smoke billowing into the sky over the Russian city of St. Petersburg after media reports said an oil depot had caught fire on Sunday.
Authorities dispatched more than 100 people to extinguish a fire and prevent damage to nearby buildings in St. Petersburg, Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a post to Telegram on Sunday. The fire was contained to an area of 800 square meters (8,600 square feet) the ministry said, adding there were no casualties.
Videos published on social media show a thick column of dark gray smoke rising from a facility. Orange flames are clearly visible in a number of clips, with sirens wailing in the background.
An aerial view of St.Isaak’s Cathedral, the Peter and Paul Fortress, on July 30,2023, in St. Petersburg, Russia. New footage circulating online shows smoke billowing into the sky over ther city after media reports said an oil depot had caught fire on Sunday.
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The Russian government did not specify the type of building set ablaze further than describing it as a “hangar,” but some Russian and Ukrainian media reports said an oil depot was on fire in the Krasnogvardeisky district in the northeast of Russia’s second-largest city. “Gas cylinders and fuel were stored at the site of the fire,” news outlet NEXTA reported, citing eyewitnesses.
But independent Russian-language outlet Astra reported that the fire did not break out at the oil depot, but in a car service building.
Local residents heard “sounds similar to explosions” at the Ruchi oil deport, according to Russian agency, Readovka. Newsweek has contacted the local St. Petersburg government for comment via email.
The cause of the fire is not yet clear, and although there have been suggestions online that it could be the result of a Ukrainian strike, there has been no comment from Russian nor Ukrainian authorities about this.
⚡️A massive fire rages on the territory of an oil depot in St.Petersburg, Russia. pic.twitter.com/Cdrss30hCy
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) September 3, 2023
