Novosibirsk: 'No risk' after blast and fire at Russian lethal virus lab
"Ebola Outbreak Spreads to 3rd Province in Eastern Congo"
17 September 2019
The Vektor centre has a huge collection of dangerous viruses (file pic) AFP
A major Russian research centre studying lethal viruses including Ebola and HIV says there was no biological contamination from an explosion and fire in one of its buildings.
The fire was caused by the explosion of a gas canister during refurbishment work at the Vektor centre in Koltsovo, a town near Novosibirsk in Siberia.
One person who suffered burns is in intensive care, a statement said.
Vektor was reportedly a Cold War biological weapons research centre.
The facility was set up in 1974 as a closed institute researching vaccines and "defences against bacteriological and biological weapons", Russian Interfax news agency reports.
Monday's explosion, during refurbishment on the fifth floor of a six-storey laboratory building, blew out windows.
There was no major structural damage in the incident and "no work with biological materials was going on there", the Vektor statement said.
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