Gas explosion prompts Lithuania to evacuate residents near Vilnius rail station

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VILNIUS (Reuters) -Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, issued an evacuation order on Wednesday for residents within a one-kilometre (0.62 mile) radius of a rail station after a train carrying liquefied petrochemical gas (LPG) ignited and exploded during reloading.

The fire was reported at 9:30 a.m. (0630 GMT), but by afternoon, 40 firemen who were on site were still unable to approach it due to excessive heat, the Lithuanian Fire and Rescue Service said.

While the LPG originates from a Lithuanian refinery owned by Poland’s refiner Orlen, an external company was responsible for its transportation and the LPG terminal at the rail station was not owned by Orlen, a company spokesperson said.

There was no concern about the fire being caused deliberately, the spokesperson said, and an investigation was underway.

“At this stage, there are no suspicions of intentional acts,” said an Orlen spokesperson in Poland. “The company is cooperating with the terminal owner and relevant authorities to investigate the cause of the incident.”

The incident occurred as LPG was loaded from the train into the terminal, a spokesperson for Orlen’s Lithuanian unit said.

A Russian passenger train was stopped at 9:54 a.m. about 10 km before it reached the station and was redirected to another route, a Lithuanian Railways spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw; Editing by Bernadette Baum)