MOSCOW, April 15 (Xinhua) -- One person died and two others were injured in a fire at a gunpowder plant in the Russian city of Kazan, roughly 700 km east of Moscow, local health authorities said on Wednesday.
Earlier, the press service of the head of Tatarstan, a Russian republic whose capital is Kazan, reported that a structure at the Kazan Gunpowder Plant partially collapsed on Tuesday evening following a fire. The incident was caused by human error.
According to health authorities, one man was pronounced dead after being pulled from the rubble. Two others were injured and hospitalized. One woman was in critical condition in the ICU but has since stabilized.
Authorities in Tatarstan have launched a criminal case into a possible breach of industrial safety regulations at hazardous production facilities.
The Kazan Gunpowder Plant, which has produced gunpowder since 1788, is Russia's leading enterprise manufacturing a wide range of defense and civilian products. The plant houses one of the oldest chemical laboratories in the industry. ■
