Residents of Pavlodar reported on social media hearing a loud pop in the central mosque named after Mashkhur Zhusup. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the regional Emergency Department, around 19:45, during air conditioner refueling, a freon leak from a cylinder occurred, causing the air conditioner to catch fire, resulting in a pop. The fire area was 2 square meters.
Mosque employees managed to extinguish the open flame with a fire extinguisher before firefighters arrived. Rescuers who arrived at the scene eliminated the remaining smoldering.
"As a result of the incident, a man born in 1993, who was refueling the air conditioner, was hospitalized with burns. The causes of the incident are being established," the statement said.
The Emergency Department also clarified that despite the pop, the cylinder remained intact. There was no explosion.
Additionally, social media was flooded with photos and videos of smoke that, according to users, stretched from the industrial zone across the entire city: from Khimgorodok to Dachny microdistrict.
According to the Emergency Department, the smoke was caused by a fire on the territory of one of the LLCs on Kosmonavtov Street: old car tires were burning.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that in the Turkestan region, doctors continue to fight for the life of a 40-year-old woman who suffered severe burns during a gas explosion in one of the apartments in Zhetysai.