MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. An explosion rocked a coalhouse at the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant (NLMK), partially damaging its roof, a source in the local emergencies services told TASS on Sunday.

"A fire broke out at the coalhouse’s stockyard belt. When firefighters arrived at the site, they found no fire but detected traces of an explosion. The coalhouse’s roof has been partially damaged," the source said, adding that the explosion was followed by fire.

According to the source, the premises are filled with smoke and there might by people inside. One woman was hurt.

This is not the first such accident at NMLK in the recent time. On August 9, several explosions occurred in the plant’s oxygen distributing shop. The subsequent fire consumed an area of 40 square meters. The fire was put out within 60 minutes. No one was hurt.

Two people might be under the debris after an explosion at a coalhouse of the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant (NMLK) in Lipetsk. 

The press service of the Russian emergencies ministry’s regional department confirmed reports that there might be people under the debris but did not specify how many. According to the department spokesman, the accident occurred at about 21:14 Moscow time. "Rescuers who arrived at the site saw that the roof had partially collapsed. There might be people under the debris," he said.

According to preliminary data, the explosion might have been caused by a breach in the technological process. The accident did not affect the plant’s operation.

The Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant is one of Russia’s biggest metallurgical companies with assets in Russia, European countries, and the United States. It was Russia’s number one steel maker in 2018.