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Emergency Situations Ministry mounting firefighting force at Primorye depot

The ministry sent an Ilyushin Il-76 jet for assisting the firefighting at the ammunition depot in the Primorye territory

MOSCOW, May 18 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry is mounting a firefighting force at the ammunition depot in the Primorye territory, ministry spokesperson Irina Andrianova told Itar-Tass.

“More than 1000 employees of the ministry are operating on the fire scene. There is also a task force and psychologists. The ministry assigned two Mil Mi-8 helicopters to the firefighting mission,” she said.

The ministry sent an Ilyushin Il-76 jet for assisting the firefighting at the ammunition depot in the Primorye territory.

“An Il-76 jet took off from the Ramenskoye airfield in the Moscow region at 5:05 p.m. MSK. It is carrying firefighting robots and eight specialists of the Russian Firefighting Institute,” the ministry told Itar-Tass.

Another Il-76 jet is on the standby. Earlier the ministry sent a Beriyev Be-200 jet to the burning depot from Khabarovsk. Two fire trains have reached the location and are preparing to join the firefighting effort.

In the words of Andrianova, the fire delayed eleven trains. “The passengers are provided with food and drinking water,” she said.

The fire at the depot storing 100-millimeter artillery munitions broke out at 5:20 p.m. local time (10:20 a.m. Moscow time) seven kilometers east of Sungach and 280 kilometers northeast of Vladivostok. About 2,000 people were evacuated from Dukhovskoye, Sungach, Zelenodolskoye and Novorusanovka.

Assistant to the Eastern Military District Commander Lt. Col. Alexander Gordeyev told Itar-Tass that the explosions hurt one serviceman. “A conscript sustained a light arm injury. He was rushed to the military hospital in Spassk-Dalny and given medical aid. His life is not in danger,” he said.

He said the explosions were over now and only small spots of fire remained.