Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

A fire, coupled with a series of violent explosions, destroyed a Russian marine munitions depot: 3,000 people had to be evacuated within a radius of 7 km around the storage facility. Two military fire-fighters were killed while combating the blaze; a total of 60 injured were reported. An officer indicated that 3 railcars containing artillery shells (weighing approximately 100 tonnes) were stockpiled on the site; of these, some 40 tonnes exploded. In addition, two railcars containing gunpowder were consumed during the fire, which was eventually extinguished following the intervention of over 400 emergency personnel. Buildings adjacent to the site were also damaged (shattered window panes), including 9 schools and 20 children’s playgrounds; in all, 105 residents were forced to leave their homes and be temporarily lodged in hotels.

According to a federal safety agency, the fire was initiated by the onsite munitions disposal activities. The press indicated that the poor state of local infrastructure as well as noncompliance with safety rules were the causes of many accidents of this type – fires, explosions – every year in Russia. The munitions left unexploded during this accident would, 10 days later, trigger a fatal explosion when loaded onto a railcar for their ultimate destruction (ARIA 37506).