Tuesday, November 24, 2009

One more blast killed eight servicemen in Ulyanovsk


MOSCOW, November 23 (Itar-Tass) One more blast that went off at an ammunition depot in Ulyanovsk killed eight servicemen and wounded another two on Monday.
“A shell exploded at 2.50 p.m. Moscow time when loading the ammunition found after the November 13 fire on an Ural truck at the technical premises of the 31st Navy ammunition depot in Ulyanovsk. Subsequently, the ammunition loaded on the truck to be delivered for further destruction exploded,” spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry Col. Alexei Kuznetsov told Itar-Tass on Monday.
According to the preliminary reports, eight servicemen from the ammunition disposal team were killed in the blast, another two servicemen were hospitalized. The truck loaded with the ammunition burnt down. “The Defence Ministry’s committee is working at the blast site,” the spokesman said.
On November 13, the major fire sparked up at the foresaid ammunition depot as a result of a breach of technology. About 120 tonnes of artillery shells burnt down at the ammunition depot. Two servicemen died in the fire-fighting efforts. A criminal case was instituted over the incident.