Reuters reports: Russia's Emergency Ministry planned to fly a chemical laboratory on Thursday to the Omsk region in southern Siberia to analyse oily yellow and orange snow which has covered an area home to 27,000 people. "A special mobile chemical laboratory will enable us to carry out express analysis of the snow at the site," Viktor Beltsov, a spokesman for the ministry, said. The snow covered a 1,500 sq km area with 7,280 homes, Beltsov said. Omsk is a heavily industrial city with a number of oil and gas refineries.

{Photo courtesy of English Russia from Russian TV}