It started with a single plume of dark smoke rising above a crowded commercial district — the kind of smoke that makes people stop, stare, and freeze for a second before realizing something is terribly wrong.
Within minutes, that smoke thickened.
People sprinted out of stalls.
Alarms began echoing between the buildings.
And then the explosions started.
Witnesses described the sound as deep, metallic, and powerful enough to make the ground vibrate. Some thought it was a generator blowing. Others believed something far worse had happened.
All anyone knew was that a huge marketplace was suddenly turning into a nightmare.
Fire crews poured into the area, but even they seemed overwhelmed by the scale of the blaze. Dozens of responders rushed between aisles, shouting orders, escorting people out, and trying to contain the flames before they spread to the adjacent structures.
Crowds pushed through smoke.
Stalls collapsed.
People stumbled out coughing, covered in ash.
And still — the explosions continued.
Only much later did officials confirm the truth:
More than 100 people were evacuated.
Over 30 fire crews responded.
And the blasts came from what are believed to be gas cylinders igniting one after another.
And the location of this shocking incident?
Pravoberezhny Market — St. Petersburg, Russia.
A massive fire ripped through the area earlier today, sending shockwaves across the district and triggering a desperate race to evacuate everyone before the flames reached the storage units.
A marketplace turned into chaos.
Explosions lighting the air.
People escaping seconds before collapse.
Some stories are dramatic.
This one felt like a movie unfolding in real time.