A ruptured underground heating pipe in St. Petersburg flooded streets with boiling water early Tuesday, injuring three people and leaving dozens of homes without heat.
The incident occurred at 3:00 a.m. in the city’s southwestern Krasnoselsky district, affecting an area of 2,000 square meters (21,527 square feet), according to the local news website Fontanka.
“The tremor [from the pipe burst] shook the floors on the 16th floor. The radiators went instantly cold. There’s no hot water — it’s all outside,” a resident told the outlet.
Footage shared online showed thick clouds of steam rising into the night sky, with one video capturing a driver clinging to his car hood to avoid burns. “It’s an apocalypse,” an eyewitness said in one video.
The ruptured pipe left at least 29 nearby homes without heating. The city’s heating grid operator said that the pipe, which was “worn out,” had been slated for repairs next year.
Three people were hospitalized with foot burns, though doctors said their injuries were not life-threatening, Fontanka reported.
The same pipe has burst multiple times in recent years, including incidents in 2013, 2017 and 2021. Law enforcement authorities said they were looking into the latest failure of St. Petersburg’s aging heating infrastructure.
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