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Homes burnt to ashes, shells in the streets as residents of Achinsk return home

By The Siberian Times reporter

08 August 2019

People who live near ammunition depot explosion site find war-like ruins.

‘Oh my God, this was our house!’

An ammunition depot exploded in Krasnoyarsk region on 5 August, killing at least one serviceman and wounding 11 civilians.

Several thousand people were evacuated from villages next to 74008 military unit near the city of Achinsk, including everyone from a nearby children’s summer camp.

Deputy Ministry of Defence Dmitry Bulgakov who inspected the area after the fearsome explosions said there was no serious damage.

‘I’ve personally visited the arsenal, checked the technical zone and looked through all the issues. There are certain moments that need to be fixed regarding broken windows, but overall everything is all right’, he told Ria Novosti news agency.

Kamenka in ruins

Six private houses were completely burnt in the village of Kamenka.

Yet locals shared videos and pictures of burnt houses and shells lying on the streets as they return home.

‘Oh my God, this was our house!’ - exclaimed Maria Botnaryuk from the village of Kamenka as she saw a video of charred ruins filmed by one of her neighbours.

‘We are trying to stay strong, but there is no information about what kind of help we will receive as our house is burnt and my parents’ flat got badly damaged. I know that houses next to us also got destroyed’, Maria added.

Six private houses were completely burnt in the village of Kamenka, TASS news agency reported.

The village is situated some 12km south of Achinsk.

Shell

‘We shall be very grateful that the shells were kept - as they must be - without combat tips and that they only had a TNT charge that enabled them to fly.’

More than 1,000 residents were evacuated when the ammunition depot exploded.

People report finding anti-tank shells in vegetable gardens and in the streets within a 15 kilometre radius of the centre of explosion.

‘We shall be very grateful that the shells were kept - as they must be - without combat tips and that they only had a TNT charge that enabled them to fly’, said a Kamenka resident.

According to local media reports, the fire swept over two munition storages with over 40,000 artillery shells of 125 and 152mm calibre.

Achinsk is an industrial city with 100,000-plus population on the Trans-Siberian railway, 183 kilometres west of Krasnoyarsk.