10 victims of explosion in Volgograd cafe brought to Moscow

A special flight of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) with ten victims of the explosion in the Volgograd cafe has landed in Moscow today.

The report about the explosion and fire in the cafe located in the Tsentralny District of Volgograd was received on February 14. In Volgograd, 21 victims were hospitalized; five of them are in critical condition.

Doctors had planned to send six most severely affected patients for treatment at specialized clinics in Moscow, but then the list was expanded to ten people, the "Interfax" reports.

"According to preliminary data, some decorative illumination and heating equipment that worked from gas cylinders blew up in the cafe. It was established that on the day of the explosion gas cylinders were changed for new ones; and there is a version that they could be connected incorrectly," said a source from the regional investigatory department of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

One of the witnesses told investigators that he heard one heater fall down in the middle of the party. Gas began leaking out of the damaged equipment; then there was an explosion and fire, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

Olga Koldunkina, the cafe administrator stated that the premises were heated by air-conditioners, not gas heaters. Moreover, according to her story, there was absolutely no gas there; and even the kitchen had only electric stoves.