At least 27 people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion and fire at a gas station in Dagestan, a Russian republic in the Caucasus, according to a new report released Tuesday by Russia’s Emergencies Ministry.

“A total of 102 people were injured as a result of the incident, of which, unfortunately, 27 died,” the ministry said in a Telegram message.

An investigation has been opened to establish the circumstances of the disaster, the investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Dagestan reports in Telegram.

The gas station is located in Makhachikal, a city of more than 600,000 inhabitants located on the shores of the Caspian Sea and the capital of Dagestan, a Russian republic of approximately 50,000 km2 that borders Chechnya, which shares a border with Georgia and Azerbaijan.

As reported by the Russian agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, the fire was extinguished. Earlier, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that it covered an area of ​​600 square meters and that 260 firefighters were involved in its isolation and extinguishing.

The video released by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia shows a group of firefighters trying to put out the flames near the bodies of the cars.

The Russian authorities sent an II-76 plane for medical intervention to Makhachikala to evacuate the seriously injured to the capital Moscow, the ministry added.

The accident happened shortly before 10:00 p.m. (19:00 Moscow time) on the federal road, the head of the administration of the Republic of Dagestan Serhii Melikov said.

“During maintenance work on the car, a fire occurred with subsequent detonation, as a result of which there were injured and killed,” – they wrote in Telegram to the investigation department.

The same source added that surrounding buildings and several cars were damaged. (Agerpress)