15:30, 15 November 2013

Residents of Stavropol report about explosion in a bus, police asserts it was a fire

‘PAZ’ bus at the intersection of Leo Tolstoy and Morozov Streets. Stavropol, November 15, 2013. Photo by Yulia Govorukha for the ‘Caucasian Knot’.

This afternoon, in the area of Leo Tolstoy, Morozov and Dzerzhinsky Streets of Stavropol, a bus was on fire. No casualties or victims were reported by the first aid station. The police claim that a terror act is out of question.

Earlier, a local resident had reported – by means of the SMS-service of the "Caucasian Knot" – about an explosion in a bus. Other eyewitnesses have reported that the explosion occurred at the intersection of Leo Tolstoy and Morozov Streets.

A police unit, an ambulance and fire-fighters have arrived to the venue.

"Policemen found 10 persons inside the bus; they broke out the windows of the bus and evacuated the passengers," Evgeny Arnautov, the head of the press service of the Chief Department for the Stavropol Territory of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Mr Arnautov, townspeople remained safe and sound also because the place of the fire was blocked by policemen. He has added that a terror act is out of question. According to preliminary data, the bus caught fire due to a technical malfunction.

Author: Oleg Krasnov

Source: CK correspondent