Thick plumes of black smoke have been spotted rising from a Russian thermal power plant today.
Footage taken outside Permskaya CHPP-9, an oil and gas power plant in Perm, central Russia, shows the thick black clouds in the skies above the facility.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Local residents have been sharing videos showing a tunnel of black, acrid smoke billowing into the sky over the city on social media.
The smoke was caused by a fire that began on the roof of the building - the largest thermal power plant in Perm - which lies around 1500km (930 miles) east of Moscow.
Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said there were no fatalities - but that three people were injured as a result of the fire, one of whom is in critical condition.
Eyewitnesses recalled seeing flames erupt in one of the workshops as the gas "burst up to the ceiling" and caused a "huge heat wave".
Surveillance footage from inside the workshop shows what appears to be a devastating gas explosion tearing off the roof of the plant, BAZA reports.
Five-hundred people have reportedly been evacuated from the building.
In an initial statement, the ministry said they were notified about a fire on the roof of a workshop at around 12.38pm local time (07.38am GMT).
There were 79 employees and 23 pieces of equipment at the scene of the fire when it started.
There is a possibility of the inferno spreading to other buildings.
The Perm explosion is not the only blast to rock Russia today after tanks carrying oil were set ablaze in the Bryansk region when Ukraine dropped an "unidentified munition" in a drone assault.
Earlier this month, similar thick plumes of acrid smoke were seen rising into the air over St Petersburg after another suspected explosion.
Local sources wrote of a deafening blast on Twitter, asking whether the flames were caused by a regular fire or another type of explosion.
One wrote: "Is it a fire in St. Petersburg or what? I have never seen or heard such a sound. HUGE flame [...]"
A clip of the blaze showed flames flowing into a mushroom cloud in the air above what appears to be a forest area in Vsevolozhsk, a residential area around 24km (15 miles) east of St Petersburg.
State media has claimed that the explosion was caused by an erupting gas pipeline that runs through the Leningrad region.
The local governor said there is no threat to locals and that the fire is under control.
