MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. An explosion followed by a fire occurred in the boiler room of the TEK-4 thermoelectric power plant (TPP) in the town of Shagonar, Tuva Region, in southern Siberia, with preliminary reports saying 23 people were injured, but no employees of the facility are missing.

TASS has gathered the key facts about the developing situation.

What we know about the explosion

- An emergency call reporting an explosion in the boiler room of the TEK-4 TPP in Shagonar, Ulug-Khemsky District, Tuva Region, was received by the local Unified Duty Dispatch Service (EDDS) at 8:49 a.m. local time (1:49 a.m. GMT).

- According to the head of the Tuva Region Emergencies Ministry, a fire broke out in a building housing the TPP’s boiler room, causing heavy smoke.

- The explosion occurred at a fuel supply intake feed with a belt container, but the boilers themselves were not damaged, the Ulug-Khemsky District administration reported on its page of the VK social network.

- The fire was localized in area covering 50 square meters.

- In Shagonar, centralized heat supply was suspended at 62 apartment buildings and 216 private homes, housing about 4,000 people.

Injured

- One of the 23 people injured in the accident has died.

- Initially, three workers were reported missing, but, according to updated information, there are no missing persons; all members of the affected shift have been accounted for.

- Tuva Region Head Vladislav Khovalyg instructed that the victims of the fire at the Shagonar TPP be sent to Republican Hospital No. 1 in Kyzyl, the regional capital.

- A medevac helicopter has arrived in Shagonar, which will evacuate 15 victims.

Response of local authorities

- After receiving the initial emergency call, first responders from the 17th Fire and Rescue Unit arrived on the scene with a crew of seven people and four pieces of equipment. A task force from the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Main Department for the Republic of Tuva was also dispatched to the site.

- Khovalyg arrived at the scene, where a crisis center was established. The regional administration has declared a regional level emergency.

- The Russian Investigative Committee's Investigative Department for the Tuva Republic initiated a criminal case under Part 2, Article 293 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Negligence Resulting in Negligent Infliction of Grievous Bodily Harm").

- The Tuva Region Health Ministry has announced a blood collection drive to aid the victims.

- Classes at educational institutions in Shagonar have been cancelled, Tuva Region Education Minister Elena Khardikova said.