Thermal plant fire leads to power cuts, evacuations in Rostov, Russia

Berlin, Jun. 15, (dpa/GNA) – According to the Russian Civil Defence, around 150 employees of the power plant in the Russian region of Rostov near the Ukrainian border were evacuated on

Wednesday and operations were temporarily suspended, after a fire broke out in the thermal plant.

The region’s governor Vasily Golubev reported on Telegram that three workers were injured, and videos of the scene showed black smoke rising from the roof of the power plant.

The civil defence on Telegram said the fire had been caused by a gas leak and ruled out “external influence”. The flames were reportedly extinguished by Wednesday afternoon.

The thermal power plant is the most important energy supplier in the Rostov region, which means the people of that region will have to expect power shortages Golubev wrote.

Local Russian media reported widespread power cuts in the region on Wednesday, with news channels broadcasting photos of electric buses at a standstill in Rostov.

The affected power plant is only about an hour drive from the Ukrainian border.

GNA