MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. An emergency rescue operation in the town of Dzerzhinsk, where several explosions took place at the Kristall explosives factory, was completed, head of the Main Directorate for the Nizhny Novgorod Region of the Russian Emergencies Ministry Valery Sinkov told journalists on the site on Saturday.

"The emergency rescue operation has been completed. Now work is in place to remove the effects linked to the damage of buildings and evaluate the situation," he said.

About 800 square meters were scorched by fire and damaged, and many windows were smashed in town buildings, Sinkov said.

He also reported that the number of first responders operating on the accident site was reduced due to the end of the operation. "The equipment and the group were partially removed from the site. There were 700 people and almost 150 vehicles there," he said, not specifying the current number of people and equipment that will be involved in the further efforts to remove the effects of the accident.

Blasts in Dzerzhinsk

On Saturday, several blasts took place at the Kristall explosives factory in the town of Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Region, followed by a fire. The authorities declared an emergency in Dzerzhinsk, the neighboring communities of Pyra and Zhelnino and the Lesnoi cordon.

These were man-made explosions, the Investigative Committee of Russia said. A criminal case was opened under Part 1 Section 217 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Violation of industrial safety requirements at production facilities").

According to the latest information from the Russian Health Ministry, 85 people sought treatment after the blasts; 16 of them were hospitalized.