Eight people have been injured after explosions at a Russian military ammunition depot in Siberia prompted thousands of workers and nearby residents to evacuate.

A fire triggered the explosions at a storage facility for gunpowder charges near the city of Achinsk in eastern Siberia.

Authorities declared a state of emergency in the region and ordered the evacuation of residents of several districts in Achinsk, as well as towns and villages within 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) of the depot. </s> In this image taken from video, explosions are seen at the military base, about 10 kilometers from Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk region, Russia Far East, Monday, Aug. 5, 2019. An explosion at a Russian military base in Siberia has set off fires and injured at several people. (Liza Uskova via AP)

MOSCOW (AP) — Explosions at a Russian military storage site in Siberia set off fires, injured at least four people and prompted widespread evacuations of residents in the surrounding area Monday, authorities said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the explosions were in an ammunition depot that held “gunpowder charges for artillery shells.”

Emergency personnel were evacuating residents within 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of the blast site in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region, “to ensure the security of the population of the settlements located near the depots,” local authorities said.

About 1,000 people had left settlements near the depot by mid-afternoon. Achinsk Mayor Ilay Akhmetov said the city’s 100,000 residents were being prepared for evacuation.

The state-run TASS news agency quoted an anonymous source saying the ammunition dump held up to 40,000 artillery shells for tank guns.

Ammunition depot explosions are not unusual in Russia. After the most recent incident in May 2018, a fire raged for almost a week before water drops from military aircraft and helicopters helped put out the blaze.

This story has been corrected to show the previous depot explosion was in 2018, not 2019. </s> MOSCOW (AP) — Explosions at a Russian military storage site in Siberia set off fires, injured at least four people and prompted widespread evacuations of residents in the surrounding area Monday, authorities said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the explosions were in an ammunition depot that held “gunpowder charges for artillery shells.”

Emergency personnel were evacuating residents within 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of the blast site in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region, “to ensure the security of the population of the settlements located near the depots,” local authorities said.

About 1,000 people had left settlements near the depot by mid-afternoon. Achinsk Mayor Ilay Akhmetov said the city’s 100,000 residents were being prepared for evacuation.

The state-run TASS news agency quoted an anonymous source saying the ammunition dump held up to 40,000 artillery shells for tank guns.

Ammunition depot explosions are not unusual in Russia. After the most recent incident in May 2018, a fire raged for almost a week before water drops from military aircraft and helicopters helped put out the blaze.

This story has been corrected to show the previous depot explosion was in 2018, not 2019. </s> The local government administration in Russia's Krasnoyarsk region said on August 6 that explosions at an ammunition depot have stopped, the TASS news agency reported.



"About two hours ago, we still heard the explosions. Not anymore. Explosions have stopped," the administration said.



Twelve people were hospitalized after a series of blasts rocked an arms depot on August 5 at a Russian military base in Siberia, prompting a mass evacuation of residents within a 20-kilometer radius.



Russia's Defense Ministry said on August 5 that it had sent 14 remote-controlled robots to help fight the fire at the Krasnoyarsk Territory Arsenal.



Local officials in the Achinsk district of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region say 11,000 people were evacuated from neighborhoods.



Photographs of the incident showed a huge explosion on the horizon with flames leaping into the sky followed by belching black smoke.



Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer outside China, said it had suspended operations at its aluminum plant in the Achinsk district and evacuated all but essential staff as a safety precaution.



The refinery is located about 30 kilometers from the military base where the explosions occurred.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, Interfax, and TASS </s> Explosion at Russian ammunition dump injures at least 2

MOSCOW (AP) — An explosion at a Russian military base in Siberia has set off fires and injured at least two people.

The explosion on Monday was at an ammunition dump at the base, located 10 kilometers from Achinsk, a closed military town in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia.

Emergency services were evacuating residents from the area.

Local authorities say residents don't face an immediate threat but asked people to stay area from the military base.

No information has been released yet about the type of ammunition stored at the base. Several Russian media reports described the facility as a storage site for artillery shells. </s> A series of explosions has rocked an arms depot at a Russian military base in Siberia, injuring eight people and prompting a mass evacuation of residents and the suspension of operations by a nearby aluminum producer.

 

 Russia’s Defense Ministry said on August 5 that it had sent 14 remote-controlled robots to help fight the fire at the Krasnoyarsk Territory Arsenal.

 

 Local officials in the Achinsk district of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region say 11,000 people were evacuated from neighborhoods near the artillery munitions depot following the explosions and an outbreak of fire earlier in the day.



 

 Photographs of the incident show a huge explosion on the horizon with flames leaping into the sky, followed by belching black smoke.

 

 Russia state-run TASS news agency cited a source as saying that at least one Russian soldier was killed.

 

 But a source from Russia’s Defense Ministry, quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency, denied the report about the soldier’s death.

 

 Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer outside China, said it had suspended operations at its aluminum plant in the Achinsk district and evacuated all but essential staff as a safety precaution.

 

 The refinery is located about 30 kilometers from the military base where the explosions occurred.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, Interfax, and TASS </s> An ammunition dump at a Russian military base exploded Monday, setting off fires that injured a handful of people, Russian media reports.

The blast occurred in Achinsk, a military town in Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region. "The explosion went off in an ammunition depot, evacuation is being carried out," a source with the emergency services in the area told state-run news agency TASS.

"Two sites are on fire," the source added. "In total, there are about 40 thousand artillery shells of a 125 and 152-mm caliber there." The Russian defense ministry said the facility contained "gunpowder charges for artillery shells," the Associated Press reports.

At least four people were hurt, suffering burns and other injuries, local medics told Russian media.

All personnel have been evacuated from the scene, and local residents within 20 km of the base are being evacuated "to ensure the security of the population of the settlements located near the depots.," the Main Directorate of the Russian Emergencies Ministry for the Krasnoyarsk Region revealed.

Ammunition depot explosions are not uncommon in Russia or former Soviet territories. An explosion at an ammunition storage site, one home to around 13 million shells, in Chapaevsk in Russia's Samara region back in 2013 injured around 30 people. </s> MOSCOW — An explosion at a Russian military base in Siberia has set off fires and injured at least two people.

The explosion on Monday was at an ammunition dump at the base, located 10 kilometers from Achinsk, a closed military town in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia.

Emergency services were evacuating residents from the area.

Local authorities say residents don’t face an immediate threat but asked people to stay area from the military base.

No information has been released yet about the type of ammunition stored at the base. Several Russian media reports described the facility as a storage site for artillery shells.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A series of explosions could be seen at the dump throughout Wednesday night

Some 20,000 people are being evacuated after a series of explosions at a massive arms depot in eastern Ukraine described by officials as sabotage.

The base in Balakliya, near Kharkiv, is around 100km (60 miles) from fighting against Russian-backed separatists.

The dump is used to store thousands of tonnes of ammunition including missiles and artillery weapons.

Rescue teams are overseeing a huge evacuation effort for people living in the city and nearby villages.

The total area of the dump spans more than 350 hectares, the military says.

Everyone within a 10km (6 miles) radius of the dump is being evacuated, the Interfax news agency quoted an aide to President Petro Poroshenko as saying.

Munitions from the depot are used to supply military units in the conflict zone in nearby Luhansk and Donetsk, reports say.

Image copyright EPA Image caption A huge cloud of smoke could be seen billowing above the ammunition depot of the Ukrainian armed forces on Thursday

Image copyright DSNS Image caption By daylight smoke billowed across the sky in Balakliya

The authorities are investigating various ways the explosions may have been caused, Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said, including the possibility of an explosive device being dropped from a drone.

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A drone was reported to have been used an earlier attempt to set the facility on fire in December 2015.

Mr Poltorak said that there were no reports that civilians or serviceman had been killed or injured in the latest incident and that airspace had been closed within a 50km (31 miles) radius of Balakliya.

More than 9,700 people have died in the conflict which erupted in 2014 when Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula. Pro-Russian rebels later launched an insurgency in the east.
A fire and large explosions at a Russian Armed Forces ammunition dump prompts the mass evacuation of civilians from the nearby city of Achinsk.