Three missing after blast on oil tanker in Russia's Makhachkala

11 June 2019 - 12:11
By Reuters
Members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry take part in a rescue operation following a blast on an oil tanker in the port of Makhachkala, Russia June 11, 2019.
Image: Russian Emergencies Ministry/Handout via REUTERS Members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry take part in a rescue operation following a blast on an oil tanker in the port of Makhachkala, Russia June 11, 2019.

Three people were missing and two injured on Tuesday after a blast on an oil tanker caused a fire while it was pumping oil in the southern Russian port of Makhachkala, Russia's Transport Ministry said.

The port is functioning as normal despite the incident, the RIA news agency cited the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transportation as saying.

The fire occurred on the VF-Tanker 16 vessel, which is owned by the Volga shipping agency, part of the UCL Holding transport group's shipping division.

Russian news agencies said the three missing people had been killed.