Massive explosions at Russian arms depot forces more than 16,000 people to flee homes

Defence Ministry blames ‘human error’ as one person feared dead

More than 16,000 people have been forced to flee their homes after massive explosions at a military depot in Siberia left 12 people injured and one missing.

Russian officials said 9,533 people have been evacuated and about 7,000 fled on their own after a fire at a military ammunition depot on Monday.

The fire triggered powerful explosions and witnesses filmed plumes of black smoke and visible shock waves being sent into the skies near the city of Achinsk in eastern Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region.

Officials for the Emergencies Ministry said the one missing person is feared dead.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said the fire had been “fully extinguished” on Tuesday morning and attributed the fire to “human error”.

Dmitry Bulgakov, deputy minister of defence, said the village of Kamenka near the explosion was not seriously damaged, according to Tass news agency.

“I was personally in the arsenal, looked at the living area, drove to the technical area and looked at all the questions,” he said.

“There are [things] that need to be fixed on the windows, but the rest is intact, all the cars are in place.”

Air traffic within 30km (19 miles) of the site was suspended by authorities until the explosions ended and train movement was halted.

The Defence Ministry said 10 heavy-lift transport planes and eight helicopters were sent to drop water on the depot.

The area reportedly housed around 40,000 125mm and 152mm artillery shells, according to Russian news website Pravda.ru.

Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China, said it has suspended operations at its Achinsk alumina plant and evacuated all but essential staff to ensure their safety.

The plant, which is Russia’s largest producer of alumina, is located 30km from the military base.

Ammunition depot explosions are not unusual in Russia, with the most recent occurring in May 2018 when a fire raged for almost a week before military aircraft and helicopters were able to put out the blaze.

A huge explosion at a Ukrainian ammunition dump in October last year also forced about 12,000 people to evacuate.

Agencies contributed to this report