At least 27 people died in an explosion and fire at a petrol station in Dagestan region of southern Russia, media reports said on Tuesday.

"As of now, 27 are dead," the Russian North Caucasus Republic's Disaster Medicine Center told Sputnik. 

According to the latest data from Dagestan's health ministry, the explosion, which occurred on Monday evening, left 56 people, including 13 children, injured.

Russian First Deputy Health Minister Viktor Fisenko, who arrived in Dagestan, later said 66 injured people were in medical institutions in Makhachkala.

The condition of 10 people is said to be critical.