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Gas explosion prompts Lithuania to evacuate residents near Vilnius rail station
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
A gas explosion near Vilnius station led to evacuations. Emergency services responded, and a Russian train was rerouted.
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)
An evacuation order was issued for residents within a one-kilometre radius of a rail station due to a gas explosion involving a train carrying liquefied petroleum gas.
The Lithuanian Fire and Rescue Service reported that 40 firemen were on site but were unable to approach the fire due to excessive heat.
There were no concerns about the fire being caused deliberately, and an investigation is underway to determine the cause.
A Russian passenger train was stopped about 10 km before reaching the station and was redirected to another route to ensure safety.
The LPG originates from a Lithuanian refinery owned by Poland’s refiner Orlen, but an external company was responsible for its transportation.
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