Three killed in Kazakhstan gas blast
Last updated on: 17 November,2021 02:29 pm
Three killed in Kazakhstan gas blast
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (AFP) - A gas cylinder exploded in a residential building in northern Kazakhstan, killing three people and leaving 10 more needing hospital treatment, emergency services in the Central Asian country said Wednesday.
A statement by emergency services said "three bodies were discovered" at the site of the explosion - a three-flat building in the village of Shortandi near the capital Nur-Sultan.
Emergency services said that they were able to put out the fire just over two hours after the accident was called in late on Tuesday.
Gas explosions and house fires are common in Kazakhstan, with critics accusing the government in the oil-rich ex-Soviet country of failing to deliver quality infrastructure, especially in the provinces.
A house fire in 2019 that killed five young girls on the outskirts of Nur-Sultan sparked a rare wave of protests spearheaded by low-income mothers.