An explosion followed by a fire injured at least nine people on Thursday at a police training center in northern Russia’s republic of Komi, local authorities said.
The blast occurred during daytime hours at the regional Interior Ministry’s Professional Training Center in Komi’s capital of Syktyvkar.
Komi’s Health Ministry said eight people were taken to the hospital, four of whom were in critical condition. One injured person declined hospital treatment and was treated at the scene.
Around 200 people were evacuated from the building, emergency services said.
Russian media outlets reported that the explosion took place in the building’s assembly hall, which was undergoing renovation.
The Health Ministry and emergency sources said a stun grenade detonated inside the facility.
The Mash news outlet, which is believed to have links to Russia’s security services, reported that a gas cylinder also exploded after the initial blast, setting construction scaffolding outside the building on fire.
The fire was contained to an area of about 340 square meters, the regional emergency ministry said.
The Komi Interior Ministry said it had launched an internal review into what it described as a “roof fire.”
The incident occurred during a training session and all those injured were cadets at the center, the ministry said.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative body, said it opened a criminal case on charges of negligence and that forensic investigators were working at the scene.
Video footage published by Russian media showed people in work clothing evacuating injured individuals along scaffolding through smoke-filled windows.
The center is responsible for training new rank-and-file officers and providing advanced instruction for serving personnel at the regional Interior Ministry.
Last year, local television broadcast the oath-taking ceremony for 57 trainees at the center, including new traffic police officers, criminal investigators, detectives and district officers.
Read this story in Russian at The Moscow Times' Russian service.
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