Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On Monday, 14 August, in the evening, an explosion occurred at a gas station in the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala. At least 27 people died, including three children. The number of victims of the explosion at a gas station in Makhachkala has reached 102. This was announced by the head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, TASS reports.

According to the RBC edition, the explosion occurred at the Nafta-24 gas station in Kumtorkala district in the north of Makhachkala around 22:00. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the car service building initially caught fire, then the fire spread to a gas station, and then an air-gas mixture exploded at the gas station. The fire was extinguished almost 4 hours after the explosion.

The head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, said that the cause of the explosion was the detonation of containers in front of the gas station. “The causes and nature of the explosion are being established. From this point of the explosion, the tanks opposite the standing gas station detonated, resulting in a fire and a fire, ”Melikov is quoted as saying.

It is noted that the prosecutor’s office of Dagestan has already begun an investigation into the incident, and local authorities have cut off the gas supply in the Kumtorkalinsky district. The families of those killed and injured in the explosion are promised compensation.

“Now there are 66 victims in the medical institutions of Makhachkala, 10 of them are in serious condition,” said Viktor Fisenko, First Deputy Minister of Health of Russia.

Dagestan has declared mourning for the victims of the gas station explosion, authorities say.