President Vladimir Putin has placed the region of northern Siberia under state of emergency after a massive volume of diesel oil have leaked into the Ambarnaya river when a tank at a power plant collapsed.
According to reports, over 20,000 tons of diesel flows to different parts of water channels such as rivers and lakes.
Aleksei Knizhnikov of World Wildlife Fund Russia described the incident as "one of the biggest oil spill in modern Russian history," New York Times wrote.
Russian Investigative Committee has launched a probe over the pollution and alleged negligence. The plant is owned by the world's leading nickel and palladium producer, a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel.
"The accident was caused by a sudden sinking of supporting posts in the basement of the storage tank," the company said in a statement.
The leaking diesel oil has extended about 350 sq km of the area, which the team has already cleaned about 53,000 cubic feet of soil at the site of the diesel fuel spill in Norilsk and pumped out 201 tons of fuel. More than 130 tons were removed from the Ambarnaya river.
However, President Putin has expressed frustration as it took several days before the news finally reached the authorities.
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