Russia's Moskva River Catches Fire, Spews Black Smoke Over Moscow

[news]

An oil slick on the Moskva River in Moscow caught fire Wednesday afternoon, sending a plume of heavy black smoke skyward in the southern part of the city.

Alarmed Muscovites shared photos and video of the plume on social media, which can be seen below.

A video posted by Angel (@sister_kerry) on Aug 12, 2015 at 7:55am PDT

Two adults and one 9-year-old child were injured in the blaze and taken to a local hospital, according to Russia Today. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which stretched about 300 feet down the river, in 15 minutes.


The state-owned oil pipeline company Transneft initially confirmed it was involved in the incident, believing the spill was likely related to a Transneft-owned underwater oil pipeline that carries jet kerosene, gasoline and diesel to the Moscow Refinery.

 

"We [confirm], that's our incident," a Transneft spokesman told state-owned news agency TASS.

 

However, Transneft now disputes its involvement after a preliminary inspection of the pipieline found no damage, a company statement said.

 




"The incident occurred at the site of passage of the pipe. But a two-hour-long check has shown that the main pipeline is operating normally,” Igor Demin, a Transneft spokesman, told Russia Today.

A photo posted by DaryAst (@daryast273) on Aug 12, 2015 at 7:42am PDT

A photo posted by krutoi88 (@krutoi88) on Aug 12, 2015 at 8:31am PDT

Moscow police told TASS that a patch of grass on the riverbank caught fire, which in turn ignited the river.
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