MOSCOW. Aug 15 (Interfax) - Russian investigators have completed the first examination of the scene of the blast at a gas station in Makhachkala, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Tuesday.
"Investigators are focusing on several theories behind the [cause of the] accident, including violations in the safe storage of flammable agricultural chemicals," the committee said.
Final conclusions will be made after investigative procedures and forensic tests are carried out, it said.
"It was discovered that on August 14, in the building of a car repair garage at the intersection of Kulinskaya Street in Novokuli and the Federal Highway in Makhachkala, a fire broke out during car maintenance work and then spread to a nearby room thought to be a storage area for a highly flammable fertilizer, consequently leading to the explosion," which left people dead and injured and caused damage to nearby buildings, the gas station and passing vehicles, the committee said.
The criminal case is being investigated on counts of failure to comply with consumer safety requirements resulting in two or more deaths through recklessness, it said
According to the latest information from the Emergency Situations Ministry, 35 people including three children were killed and another 80 were injured. Tuesday was declared a day of mourning in Dagestan.