In the distance, a fire is burning at an arms depot after a series of explosions in central Russian city Chapayevsk on June 18, 2013.
A series of massive explosions at an arms depot in central Russia has caused a large fire and forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 people from the area, the emergency situations ministry says.
The blasts began Tuesday night as workers were trying to dispose of the old ammunition shells near the city of Chapayevsk around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Moscow.
According to the ministry, the evacuated residents came from the settlement of Nagorny located about five kilometers from the dept.
The residents saw their windows blast by the explosions. A total of 48 people have received medical treatment and 11 others were hospitalized due to sustained injuries.
Sources said explosions were heard every minute overnight while emergency situations ministry used aircraft to drop water on the fire.
The ministry reported on Wednesday morning that there were no additional explosions; however, fire continued to blaze at the depot, where over 1,500 firefighters were trying to combat the incident.
Å“It is still not possible to halt the self-destruction, or to enter the firing grounds,” said a local police spokesman.
The police official continued by saying that the shell shards are scattering in such a large area that there is no way the fire brigade could safely reach and extinguish the fire.
The regional Investigative Committee reported that the depot contained around 18 million shells.
Regional investigators have started a criminal probe into a breach of safety regulations.
Russia has experienced similar accidents previously such as in October 2012 when a depot containing 4,000 tons of munitions exploded in the Urals region, causing thousands to be evacuated.
Earlier in the same year in May, six soldiers died due to a depot blast in the Nizhny Novgorod region of central Russia.
CAH/PR
This article originally appeared on: Press TV