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Three Die in Fire at Siberian Ammunition Depot
At least three people died and four were injured when a fire blamed on lightning strike raged through a Siberian ammunition depot, news reports said Saturday.
One man was fatally injured after a projectile struck him, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. An elderly woman died of a heart attack, the report said, and another man died from unknown causes.
At least seven houses in the nearby town of Gusinoye Ozero were destroyed by the fire which broke out Friday, in the presidential administration in Buryatia, a Siberian region on Russia's border with Mongolia, told ITAR-Tass.
The ammunition dump held firearms ammunition, artillery shells and mortar rounds, ITAR-Tass reported.
The region's president, Alexander Potapov, traveled to the scene of the accident Friday, the news agency said. Gusinoye Ozero is some 120 kilometers (70 miles) south of the regional capital Ulan Ude and about five kilometers (three miles) from the ammunition depot.
Firefighters fought to contain the blaze Saturday, while missiles in the depot continued to explode, ITAR-Tass said.
Ammunition dump fires and explosions are not infrequent at Russia's far-flung military facilities. Poor safety practices are often the cause.
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