Russia reports toxic rain, orders locals to stay home after Ukrainian oil strike
Russia was struggling to extinguish a fire raging at a Black Sea oil terminal hit by Ukraine earlier this week, local authorities told AFP on Thursday, after urging residents to stay home amid harmful toxic emissions.
Kyiv struck oil facilities in the southern town of Tuapse on Monday, triggering a huge blaze and sending plumes of thick black smoke into the sky over the coastal city.
“The fire at the Tuapse oil refinery is still ongoing – four storage tanks are ablaze,” the regional emergency headquarters told AFP on Thursday, four days after the hit.
The fire caused toxic rainfall on Wednesday, with authorities saying the concentration of toxic particles in the air was “two to three times permissible levels”
The rain left “a black coating on surfaces,” authorities said.
Unverified images shared by locals on social media showed huge black clouds over the city, oil spills in the sea and on beaches, with dead fish and birds lying on the shore.
Stray cats and dogs were…
