THREE kids are among 30 killed after a huge explosion rocked a petrol station in Russia.
At least 105 people have also been injured after a fire started at a car repair shop in the Dagestan region before spreading.
AFPAt least 30 people have died after an explosion at a petrol station[/caption]
AFPMore than 100 people have also been injured[/caption]
The inferno engulfed a nearby gas station – sending it up in flames before triggering a giant explosion.
It took firefighters more than three and a half hours to put out the blaze as it spread to an area of 600 square metres, TASS reports.
Shocking footage shows a fire raging at the petrol station before a fireball blast sends huge plumes of smoke into the air.
Russian authorities say 30 people, including three kids, have been killed while more than 100 have been hurt.
Some of those injured have been airlifted to Moscow for treatment.
At least 13 of those injured are children, according to the Dagestan health ministry.
The explosion took place Monday night on the outskirts of Makhachkala, the region’s capital.
One witness said: “It’s like a war here.”
Russian authorities have begun a criminal investigation.
It comes just days after a mystery blaze broke out at a warehouse near Moscow.
The warehouse, in the town of Ramenskoye, erupted into flames on Sunday and sent smoke billowing across the skyline.
Ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in agricultural fertilizers, is highly flammable, and could explain how the blaze spread so quickly.
Videos of the fire posted online show thick black smoke and flames, seen from hundreds of metres away.
It marked the latest mystery fire to break out in the Russian capital in recent months in the wake of Vladimir Putin‘s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this year, 2,500 square metres went up in flames next to the Dzerzhinsky power plant in the southeastern suburbs of Moscow.
In April, another major blaze broke out in Dzerzhinsky, which was infamous during the Soviet era for producing chemical weapons.
The out-of-control fire started in the brick warehouse of a chemicals plant in the suburb, which has a number of defence-related facilities.
Also last month, flames ripped through the Russian defence ministry just metres from the Kremlin where President Putin was holding talks.
ReutersThe fire started at a car repair shop before spreading[/caption]
It took firefighters three and a half hours to control the blazeAP