Moscow [Russia], August 10:The injury toll in a violent explosion that rocked a pyrotechnics warehouse in the town of SergiyevPosad, about 70km north-east of Moscow, on Wednesday morning has risen to at least 56 people, municipal officials said.
Five people are said to be in critical condition. One person, an employee at the facility, died later of her injuries.
The explosion occurred in a pyrotechnics warehouse rented by a company on premises belonging to the city, the administration of SergiyevPosad announced on Telegram.
Russian authorities later said the incident happened in a warehouse of the pyrotechnics manufacturer Piro-Ross.
According to initial findings, disregarded safety precautions were the reason for the incident.
The city administration spoke of a "violation of technological processes" as the cause. The previously circulated version of an alleged drone attack was rejected by official bodies.
Observers on social networks had previously speculated that the factory, which manufactures optical equipment for military use among other things, could have been the target of a drone attack.
Photos and videos showed a large column of smoke rising in the sky. A fire was being extinguished on an area of about 50 square metres. A search for people trapped under the rubble was still under way.
Nearby buildings were damaged and evacuated.
The district administration in the region declared a state of emergency.
Source: Qatar Tribune