Fire at Navy arms depot in Ulyanovsk extinguished

ULYANOVSK, November 16. (Itar-Tass). The fire at the Navy arms depot in Ulyanovsk has been extinguished.

The head of the special service of the regional branch of the Emergencies Ministry, Yelena Sikharulidze, told Itar-Tass that the fire had been put out at 00:30 Moscow time.

The fire was caused by an explosion that occurred during the disposal of ammunition at the Navy arms depot on Friday. Authorities cut off gas and heat supplies to the arms depot and the adjacent buildings in order to avoid other emergencies.

Eight people were injured as a result of the explosion, the Emergencies Ministry told Itar-Tass.

“Eight people have been admitted to hospitals,” the ministry said.

The regional governor’s press service said, however, that four people were in hospital. “The others refused to be hospitalised. All of them have bruises,” it said.

One of the injured persons is in critical condition.

Eleven people are missing. They might have been close to the place of the explosion, the governor’s aide Sergei Davydov said, adding that these include both military personnel and civilians.

He said they might as well be staying with their relatives.

Earlier, the governor’s press service reported that 43 people had been rescued. “According to the crisis management centre, 43 military personnel have been rescued at the scene of the explosion. They were led out of the bomb shelter after the fire had been partly localised,” the press service said.

Another ten were hospitalised, including two in critical condition.

Defence Ministry acting chief spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov said earlier that two people – both army servicemen from a fire-fighting unit -- had died while trying to contain the fire.

Back to news