The moment a powerful explosion rocked a chemical factory near St. Petersburg was caught on the dashcam of a car nearby. The blast was triggered by a fire in a workshop and injured four workers.

The footage of the incident was filmed from quite some distance, but the blast and plume of smoke sent into the skies by it can be clearly seen regardless. The motorist who shot the video published it on social media on Wednesday.

The explosion happened at about 11am local time in the industrial zone of the Leningrad Region not far from the Russian border with Estonia. The fire started at a factory that produces chemical compounds for construction materials. The local media say it was so powerful that it broke window glasses as far as 1km away.

The disaster prompted an evacuation from the zone. Rescue services say it poses no chemical hazard to the area.

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