At least 1 killed, one injured in Ukraine's ammunition warehouse blasts

At least one person has been killed and another one was injured in Thursday's explosions at an ammunition warehouse in Ukraine's eastern Kharkov region, the State Service for Emergencies said Friday.

A body of a 66-year-old woman was found in the debris of a private house, which was destroyed by the blasts, while another woman was taken to a hospital with injuries, the emergency agency said in a statement.

Although the intensity of the explosions has dropped significantly over the past 24 hours, the situation in the area still remains tense, the statement said.

The explosions started at artillery storage sites at the military base near the town of Balakleya on early Thursday, triggering a massive fire and the subsequent detonation of the ammunition.

More than 20,000 people living in Balakleya and nine surrounding villages have been evacuated. Many private houses and public infrastructure facilities have been either damaged or destroyed by the explosions.

The Balakleya military base, which lies about 100 kilometers from the conflict area in eastern Ukraine, contains about 138,000 tons of ammunition.

The Ukrainian authorities are investigating whether the negligence or sabotage was behind the blasts.

source: Xinhua