Russian arms depot blasts force evacuation of 28,000

Someoneforyou

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Russian arms depot blasts force evacuation of 28,000
Russia - 3 June 2011

MOSCOW: Authorities in central Russia were early Friday battling a fire raging through an arms depot storing around 10,000 tonnes of shells that forced the evacuation of more than 28,000 people.

As a result of the night-time blaze at the arms depot near the city of Izhevsk in the Volga region of Udmurtia four people received burns and were hospitalised, the regional emergencies ministry said in a statement.

"A total of more than 28,000 people have been evacuated," the ministry said. The defence ministry said that the military personnel at the depot did not sustain any casualties, however.

"According to a report from the scene at 06:30 Moscow time (02:30 GMT), there was no casualties as a result of the fire and exploding shells among the military personnel," the statement said.

"At the moment the force of the explosions has slightly diminished," the emergency ministry said early Friday. "There is no threat to nearby villages and the town of Izhevsk."

More than 100 firefighters were battling the blaze, along with water-bombing planes and robotic equipment, officials said.

The fire broke out at the depot located near the village of Pugachyovo near Izhevsk just before midnight, the emergency ministry said.

"Depots storing classic artillery shells are burning. The shells are exploding over the whole area of the military unit," the ministry said.

Explosions at military weapons depots are relatively common in Russia and are often linked to ageing equipment and lax enforcement of safety rules.

Late last month a similar fire at a munition depot in the region of Bashkortostan triggered explosions and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents, officials have said.



Source: AFP
 

Someoneforyou

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Blast rocks Russian arms depot

Blast rocks Russian arms depot
Russia - 4 June 2011

Russian authorities battled a blaze raging through an arms depot on Friday that halted oil pipeline flows from the country's top crude producer and forced tens of thousands to be moved out of the area.

President Dmitry Medvedev threatened to sack army officers responsible for the blaze, which followed a fire at another arms storage depot.

Two such incidents in close succession point to a systemic problem, he said. "If they don't understand it the easy way, then we will again have to remove their chevrons," Medvedev told a meeting of his Security Council, state-run RIA news agency reported.

Last summer Medvedev sacked several senior officers for a major fire at a base outside Moscow during a record heat wave that triggered massive wildfires across Russia.

State television showed flames colouring the night sky orange and sparking explosions overnight at the military complex near the city of Izhevsk 1,200 kilometres east of Moscow.

Two people died of heart attack during the fire -the second at a Russian munitions store in less than a week -and at least 45 were injured, the local health minister in the central Russian region told news agencies.

By morning, a thick cloud of smoke rose from the depot, which stores more than 10,000 tonnes of artillery shells.

A Defence Ministry official said there were two or three loud blasts every minute.

The depot near the village of Pugachyovo housed munitions scheduled for disposal which were equivalent in power to about 58,000 tonnes of TNT, Russian agencies reported.

"There is a sizable store of rocket-propelled missiles stored at the depots but they are encased in a 60 centimetrethick cement storage site. They will not explode," Deputy Defence Minister General Dmitry Bulgakov told the state ItarTass news agency.

A military source told the Interfax news agency it would take at least two days to douse the blaze.


An image taken from Russian NTV channel television shows balls of fire and columns of smoke rising above a burning arms depot in central Russia, some 1,200 kilometres east of Moscow early Friday. Fire raged through a Russian arms depot where tonnes of artilleryshells and rockets are stored, causing the mass evacuation of people and leaving dozens injured in the third such recent incident.



Source: Reuters
 

Armand2REP

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Two ammo depots in flames in the same week. Russia has some serious problems.
 

Godless-Kafir

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Two ammo depots in flames in the same week. Russia has some serious problems.
They have major problems in storage and production after the collapse of USSR and most of their defense Industry wont go anywhere without India.
 

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