MOSCOW (AP) — An explosion at a gas station in Russia’s southern region of Dagestan killed at least 13 people, officials said Saturday.
The explosion on Friday triggered a fire that tore through the service station and its cafeteria on the outskirts of the regional capital, Makhachkala, said Russia’s Emergencies Ministry, adding that two children were among the dead. The fire was extinguished.
Makhachkala is about 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) south of Moscow.
Regional authorities said a criminal investigation was opened and Saturday has been declared a day of mourning in Dagestan.
Last August, a massive explosion at a gas station in Dagestan killed 35 people and injured 115 more.
In this photo released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, first responders work the scene after an explosion killed multiple people at a gas station in the suburbs of Dagestan capital Makhachkala in Russia's Caspian Sea region. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, firefighters respond after an explosion killed multiple people at a gas station in the suburbs of Dagestan capital Makhachkala in Russia's Caspian Sea region. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, Russian rescuers carry a casualty after an explosion killed multiple people at a gas station in the suburbs of Dagestan capital Makhachkala in Russia's Caspian Sea region. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, smoke and fire rises after an explosion killed multiple people at a gas station in the suburbs of Dagestan capital Makhachkala in Russia's Caspian Sea region. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
BERLIN (AP) — Lawmakers elected a mainstream conservative as speaker of the state parliament in eastern Germany's Thuringia region on Saturday, putting aside a convention that the strongest party gets the job after the far-right Alternative for Germany won a regional election for the first time.
The center-right Christian Democratic Union's Thadäus König was elected in a parliamentary session that stretched over two days, punctuated by a court ruling against the conduct of the far-right politician who chaired the proceedings.
It underlined the prospect of a very bumpy parliamentary term after the Sept. 1 election in which Alternative for Germany, or AfD, finished first with nearly one-third of the vote — the first far-right win in a state election in post-World War II Germany. However, it fell well short of a majority, and no other party wants to govern with it.
The legislature in Erfurt was supposed to elect its speaker on Thursday. In Thuringia, as in other German states, the first session after an election is chaired by the oldest lawmaker — in this case, AfD's Jürgen Treutler.
Treutler drew criticism in a turbulent and often-interrupted meeting for refusing to allow lawmakers to speak, put forward motions or debate allowing all parties, not just AfD, to put forward candidates for the speaker's job.
The CDU protested to Thuringia's constitutional court, which ruled Friday that the rules of procedure can be changed before a speaker is elected.
In a calmer session Saturday, lawmakers elected König over AfD candidate Wiebke Muhsal by 54 votes to 32, with one abstention. AfD has 32 lawmakers.
By convention, thought not by law, the speaker’s job usually goes to the strongest party. But other parties had said they wouldn't elect an AfD candidate and also objected to Muhsal, as she was fined for fraud years ago.
It remains to be seen whether and when parties will manage to put together a state government. No one wants to work with AfD. The domestic intelligence agency has the party's Thuringia branch, led by prominent hard-right figure Björn Höcke, under official surveillance as a “proven right-wing extremist” group.
The only alternative is an improbable alliance of the CDU, a new party led by a prominent leftist and the center-left Social Democrats. That would be one seat short of a majority and would probably need some kind of help from the Left Party, which has communist roots.
Christian Democratic Union's Thadäus König, as the new state parliament president, attends during the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)
Jürgen Treutler, AfD member of parliament and former president, attends during the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)
Members of parliament attend the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa/dpa via AP)
Christian Democratic Union's Thadäus König, as the new state parliament president, poses during the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)
J'rgen Treutler, right, AfD member of parliament and senior president, congratulates Christian Democratic Union's Thadäus König on his election as state parliament president during the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)
