In Krasnodar Territory, two persons hospitalized after fires in two houses

At night on June 7, at one-hour interval, in the city of Labinsk of the Krasnodar Territory, two private houses, standing opposite each other, burst into flames. A 45-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man suffered in the fire. The fire was caused by a leakage in the gas pipeline.

Both victims were hospitalized in the local central district hospital. The woman got burning injuries to 60 percent of her body, the man got burns to a lesser extent; however, at present, he is also at the resuscitation ward.

The incident occurred in Voroshilov Street in the city of Labinsk. At 0:30 a.m., two-storey house No. 154 burst into flames. Neighbours called fire-fighters.

"The eight fire-fighting crews were involved in extinguishing the fire. The elimination of the fire was still underway, when at 1:30 a.m., the house No. 145, located on the opposite side of the street, burst into flames," the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" quotes a source in the press service of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) of the Krasnodar Territory.

According to Viktor Plaksin, Chief of the Division for Affairs of Civil Defence and Emergencies of the administration of the Labinsk District, the fire could be caused by a breakthrough of main gas pipeline. "When they laid the pipe along Voroshilov Street, and put air to it under pressure, a fountain of burning sand burst out. That confirms that the pipe got a hole, and a leakage occurred from the hole," he said.

Staff members of the "Krasnodarkraigaz" Company, which serves the distribution networks, did not confirm that version. "Earlier, there were no problems in that section of the networks," stated Elena Vinogradova, the press secretary of the Company.

The Labinsk Prosecutor's Office held an extraordinary meeting on the fact of explosions, at which the basic version of the incident was voiced. "Experts have found that it (leakage) occurred because of electrochemical corrosion of the pipeline. The Prosecutor's Office is checking compliance with legislation on industrial safety at pipeline's operation," said Evgeny Golovachov, Labinsk Inter-District Prosecutor.

According to the Prosecutor, the corrosion occurred, since gas was in contact with an electrical cable. With the course of time, the pipe has been ruined, and a large volume of gas accumulated under the houses. Therefore, an explosion occurred, the "Devyaty Kanal 'Kuban'" ("The 9^th Channel 'Kuban') reports.