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Explosion hits Russian virology laboratory where smallpox, anthrax and Ebola strains stored

Vector
Vector

A gas cylinder exploded at a Russian laboratory where strains of smallpox, anthrax and Ebola are stored.

The blast at the State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia, blew out windows and caused a fire.

One worker was taken to hospital with third-degree burns.

The explosion happened on the fifth floor of the six-storey building during repairs to a sanitary inspection room, the centre, known as Vector, said in a statement on Monday.

The fire, which covered 30sqm of the building, was later extinguished.

No biohazardous materials were present in the room at the time, the centre added.

The explosion did not pose a threat to the local population, Nikolai Krasnikov, head administrator of the city, told the state-run TASS news agency.

Vector is one of two official locations where the now-eradicated smallpox virus is stored, the other being the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The facility was formerly used by the Soviet Union for biological warfare research

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In 2004, a researcher died after she accidentally pricked herself with a needle contaminated with the Ebola virus.