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At least 20 people were killed and 134 injured in a factory blast in Russia last Friday (August 15), according to emergency services' latest update on Monday (August 18) via Reuters.
Pavel Malkov, governor of the Ryazan region where the incident took place, said it had been triggered by a fire breaking out inside a workshop at the facility, though it was unclear from Russian media reports what caused the fire to break out in the first place or what the factory was producing. No additional details beyond efforts to find and treat the injured victims were shared publicly by official Russian sources.
Some media sources reported that the incident took place at an explosives plant, however, Reuters wasn't able to immediately verify the claim.
“As of August 18, 20 people died as a result of the emergency incident,” the local emergency service headquarters said in a post on Telegram via the New York Post. “There are 134 injured, of whom 31 patients are in hospitals in Ryazan and Moscow, while 103 patients are undergoing outpatient treatment.”
Video footage shared by the emergencies showed parts of the plant completely destroyed as responders went through piles of rubble with sniffer dogs during recovery efforts.