Heat wave leads to new explosions at Russian arms depot

Individual armaments are exploding at an arms depot near a small village in the Urals republic of Udmurtia due to a heat wave in the region. On June 2, a fire began raging at the same depot, the 102nd Arsenal of the Central Military District, near the village of Pughachyovo, resulting in numerous explosions and the evacuation of 28,000 people, leaving at least 95 injured. The explosions caused extensive damage to more than 3,000 buildings, including housing, hospitals and schools. The republic's prime minister, Yury Pitkevich, told journalists on Saturday that the extreme heat in the area had caused the explosions of armaments that so far have not been found or detonated from the June fire that hit the depot. "The military has said that these armaments will continue to explode for another three to five years. The armaments are all contained within the territory of the depot behind the fences [surrounding the depot] and those stored underground," Pitkevich said. The head of the republic's Emergencies Ministry, Petr Fomin, said the armaments were being doused with water to lessen the frequency of explosions.