STORY: At least 52 injured in blast at Moscow plant: authorities
DATELINE: Aug. 10, 2023
LENGTH: 00:00:55
LOCATION: Moscow
CATEGORY: OTHERS
 
SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP (English): MENG JING, Xinhua correspondent in Moscow
2. various of the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant
3. various of the rescue efforts  
STORYLINE:
 
STANDUP (English): MENG JING, Xinhua correspondent in Moscow
"We are here in the city of Sergiyev Posad in Moscow region. An explosion took place this (Wednesday) morning in the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant behind me, which caused at least 52 injured."
 
According to the Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobiev, the explosion happened at around 10:40 a.m. local time at a pyrotechnics warehouse, which was being rented out on the optical-mechanical plant's territory by a private company.
 
Vorobiev said people have been evacuated from all the buildings and workshops of the plant, as well as from a kindergarten close to the factory. He also said that a sport complex near the plant had been damaged, as well as windows in nearby residential buildings.
 
Local media, citing a State Duma deputy, suggested that the blast could have occurred due to a "violation of technological processes."
 
In response, Russia's Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case into the incident.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Moscow.
(XHTV)