A 28-year-old lab technician has died in Russia after an accident at a high-security anti-plague research institute in Siberia.

Darya Shipilova worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute. On September 25, she told colleagues she had accidentally broken a test tube of live bacteria while collecting samples. She was hospitalised with severe pneumonia on September 29 and died days later, reportedly on a ventilator.

About 189 people who had contact with her were quarantined, and a criminal case has been opened. Russia’s health watchdog says her pneumonia is of “unknown etiology” and has not confirmed it was plague. The regional governor said her contacts have tested negative.

US President Donald Trump said America was looking “very strongly” at the case. The reports have raised concerns because the institute studies pathogens including plague bacteria.

Russian officials have ordered a criminal investigation into the accident and a review of safety at the institute. Health authorities said her contacts remain under medical observation with no symptoms so far. The institute handles dangerous pathogens and operates under strict protocols. The case has drawn attention abroad because of the facility’s role in plague research.