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Violations of fire safety rules sees as key cause of Saki airfield blast — source

"There are no signs or evidence that the explosion was done deliberately," the source said

MOSCOW, August 9. /TASS/. Violations of fire safety rules are seen as a key cause of the munitions blast at the Saki airfield in Crimea, a source in the Russian defense ministry told TASS on Tuesday.

"Only violations of fire safety rules are considered as a key cause of the explosion of several munitions. There are no signs or evidence that it was done deliberately," the source said.

The Russian defense ministry told journalists earlier that several aviation bombs exploded on the territory of the Saki airfield near Novofedorovka in Crimea. According to the ministry, no one was hurt and no damage was done to aircraft.

The Saki military airfield near Novofedorovka is used by the Russian defense ministry, including for naval aircraft. Apart from it, the airfield has a ground-based testing and training complex NITKA, one of Russia’s two such simulators to drill the skills of takeoff and landing of ship-based aircraft. Its size is equivalent to the flight deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.

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