Fears for hundreds of civilians trapped in Mariupol steel plant

Pro-Russian troops gather outside the destroyed Azovstal iron and steelworks administration building in Mariupol, Ukraine. Photograph: Chingis Kondarov/Reuters

Fears are growing for hundreds of civilians holed up in the Azovstal steel factory on Mariupol’s left bank, with the last remaining, outgunned contingent of Ukrainian fighters.

According to local officials, between 300 and 1,000 people, including women and children, could still be trapped in the steelworks, a sprawling mass of tunnels and workshops spread over four square miles in the south-east of the city, scene of the worst humanitarian crisis of the nearly two-month war.