A heating main burst in the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod has flooded streets with boiling-hot water, burning several passersby, local media and health officials said Tuesday.
Videos posted on social media showed steam rising from snowy streets and sidewalks as pedestrians attempted to navigate the hazardous environment.
“I can’t see a damn thing. It’s a banya out here,” a man could be heard saying in one video.
More than 3,000 residents of 20 apartment buildings were reportedly left without heating following the main burst, according to local Telegram news channels.
Local utility company Teploenergo said in a statement it was working on fixing the outage.
At least 10 people were burned by boiling water that engulfed several city streets on Tuesday, the state-run news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti reported, citing health officials.
A child who was among the injured passersby was hospitalized, while the other nine adults will receive outpatient care, according to RIA Novosti.
Teploenergo CEO Ilya Khalturin pledged to pay for the burn victims’ treatment, according to NewsNN.
Tuesday's heating main burst in Nizhny Novgorod comes as at least half of Russian regions faced water, heating or power outages since the start of the new year, according to calculations by the news website 7x7.
