St. PETERSBURG – Four people have been taken to hospital following an explosion in a storage locker at a busy St. Petersburg supermarket. Over 50 people have been evacuated from the building.
According to local media reports, up to six more victims are being examined on location in the Russian city.
“There was a bang. Emergency personnel are already on the scene. The evacuation has been completed, and there was no fire,” a local Emergencies Ministry official told TASS news agency.
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Footage showed multiple medical and police vehicles parked outside the Gigant Hall leisure centre, where the Perekrestok supermarket, in which the incident occurred, is located on the ground floor.
There were thousands of visitors inside the shopping complex in the northeast of the Russian city, during what is the busiest time of the year in the run-up to the New Year celebrations.
Officials are treating the investigation as a potential mass homicide attempt. Sources told local media that the explosion was equivalent to 200g of TNT.
