Two days after the huge explosion at a petrol station in the southern Russian Republic of Dagestan killed 35 people, 22 bodies have yet to be identified, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Investigators believe the blast in Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala, was sparked by a fire in a car workshop opposite the petrol station, where fertiliser was stored.

Investigators have questioned two men, one of whom confirmed the storage of the ammonium nitrate, the authorities said.

The State Investigation Committee treats the accident as violating safety measures resulting in death.

Local media said 84 people were injured, some of them seriously.

The explosion in Makhachkala damaged around 400 houses in the surrounding area, according to Dagestan’s Head of Administration, Sergei Melikov.

Mr Melikov said on Telegram that the clean-up effort was underway.

In 2020, ammonium nitrate stored without safety precautions caused a massive explosion in the port of Beirut.

Over 200 people were killed, around 6,000 others were injured, while large parts of the port and nearby residential areas were destroyed.

(dpa/NAN)