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Fire at military test site near Astrakhan eliminated — defense ministry

According to earlier reports a rocket engine caught fire during routine work inside a warehouse storing non-combat parts of missile targets

© Yuri Smityuk/TASS

MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. The fire at the Ashuluk test site near Astrakhan has been eliminated. Nobody was hurt, the Russian Defense Ministry’s press-center said.

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Rocket booster catches fire at military test site in south Russia

"Military firefighters were called to deal with the fire. There was no need for evacuating the personnel," the ministry said.

According to earlier reports a rocket engine caught fire during routine work inside a warehouse storing non-combat parts of missile targets.

The Kharabali district authorities said the fire posed no threat to rural communities. The nearest are 50-60 kilometers away from Ashuluk.

The military prosecutor’s office of the Caspian Flotilla has launched a probe into the fire, the prosecutor’s office spokesman said.

Ashuluk is a military test site near the border with Kazakhstan, being used for testing air defense forces and holding troop exercises, as well as for the disposal of ammunition past the expiration date.

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