12,000 evacuated after Ukraine arms depot fire
Sabotage not ruled out as ammunition began exploding and set off a huge fire near Druzhba
More than 12,000 people were evacuated after ammunition stored at an arms depot in northern Ukraine began exploding early yesterday and set off a huge fire, authorities said.
Security services said they were investigating “possible sabotage” in the incident at a defence ministry depot near the village of Druzhba, around 135km northeast of Kiev.
Emergency services said they had no information on any deaths, and regional authorities said more than 60 people required medical help for smoke inhalation.
Grey and white smoke rose up from the horizon yesterday ■ morning, an AFP photographer saw, while explosions were going off every one to two minutes.
A defence ministry official said the fire was raging in five storage areas, covering about 10 per cent of the total of about 700 hectares.
The fire and explosions began around 3:30am local time (0030 GMT) at the Number Six depot, the emergency services said.
Four explosions went off in different parts of the depot before a fire broke out, the deputy head of Ukraine’s General Staff, Rodion Tymoshenko, said, suggesting this meant the incident could be “sabotage,” a thinly veiled jab at Russia.
Kiev forces have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country since 2014 in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people.
More than 12,000 people were evacuated from the area at risk, the emergency services said.
President Petro Poroshenko called a meeting of the heads of security forces and promised to give residents all the necessary help, his spokesman wrote on Facebook.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman travelled to the scene and chaired a meeting of emergency services officials.
“The main thing is to preserve people’s lives. Whatever’s destroyed, we will rebuild,” he wrote on Facebook.