MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Five people were injured and one was killed when fire ripped through a defunct branch of a natural gas pipeline in the Khanty-Mansiysk Region in Western Siberia, regional Health Department head Alexey Dobrovolsky wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
"Information on those injured in the blaze that broke out at one of the gas pipeline sections in the Beloyarsky District during repair and maintenance work. Out of six casualties, one person is dead, five are in grave condition. Currently, those injured are being evacuated to the district hospital in Nyagan via medevac helicopters," he wrote.
Earlier, the emergency services told TASS that a fire had broken out on a non-operational line of the Yamal-Europe natural gas pipeline belonging to the Gazprom Transgas Yugorsk company. According to a source, the site of the blaze is about 30 kilometers away from the nearest population center. Currently, specialists are heading to the site and the causes and circumstances of the incident are being determined.