Petrol station explosion kills dozens, injures more than 100 in Russia

At least 30 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a devastating petrol station blast in Russia.

The disaster in Makhachkala, in the Caucasus republic of Dagestan, was triggered late last night after a fire broke out at the fuel station.

The deadly inferno was sparked at an adjacent car repair shop and spread to the petrol pumps, local media reported.

Several buildings and cars nearby were severely damaged by the powerful blast, which completely levelled the petrol station.

The blazed raged overnight as emergency workers desperately tried to evacuate the injured, and some 260 firefighters were deployed to extinguish the flames early Tuesday morning.

Haunting images from the scene taken this morning showed how the petrol station was reduced to rubble, and an area of thousands of square feet around the epicentre of the blast was charred and littered with debris.