MOSCOW, August 9. /TASS/. A human factor is behind the blast at a fireworks hangar in the town of Sergiyev Posad near Moscow, emergency services told TASS on Wednesday.
"A human factor triggered the blast. A hangar on an area of 1,600 square meters leased by a private firm on the factory’s territory was destroyed," the emergency services said.
As healthcare services told TASS, the number of people injured in the blast rose to 16.
The blast occurred on the premises of the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant, smashing windows in several residential buildings in various districts of the town. Total evacuation has been declared at the enterprise.
Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov has gone out to the blast site in the Sergiyev Posad urban district. As the emergency services told TASS, the warehouse blast was not caused by a drone attack, according to preliminary data.
The warehouse storing fireworks was located on the premises of the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant. The factory is part of the Shvabe Holding Company within the state tech corporation Rostec and is a modern innovation enterprise and a leading developer and producer of optical and optoelectronic devices for defense, security and law-enforcement agencies, industry and healthcare institutions.
According to the enterprise’s data, the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant has been engaged in rolling out observation, medical and ophthalmic devices since 1935, dosimetry equipment and technical security means since recently.