Five more people have sustained minor injuries, according to the region’s health ministry
Smoke from an explosion in the Crimean village of Novofedorovka, Crimea, Russia. © RIA
One person has been killed in a series of explosions that rocked a Russian military airfield in Crimea on Tuesday afternoon, the region’s governor has revealed. Five more people have sustained minor injuries as a result of the incident, according to Crimea’s health ministry.
Russia’s defense ministry earlier put the blasts down to an accidental detonation of ammunition and denied they had been caused by an enemy attack.
Sergey Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, who is at the Saki airfield, posted a video on his Telegram channel, saying that “unfortunately, now official information is coming in, unfortunately, we have one fatality.” The official pledged to issue updates on social media if and when more details are established.
Crimea’s health ministry, in turn, has confirmed that five people injured in the incident, including a child, have been hospitalized, with their condition being described as non-life-threatening.
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In his latest video, Aksyonov also urged everyone to only seek and accept official comments, such as those issued by Russia’s defense ministry, regarding the cause of the blasts.
The official went on to give assurances that the “number of ambulances [working at the scene] is sufficient,” with the situation there describes as “under control.”
The Crimean governor also explained that householders in the immediate vicinity of the airfield will be relocated. On top of this, Aksyonov also promised that no local resident who has been affected by the blasts will be left “without help.”
The first reports of several blasts in Novonefyodovka village, many accompanied by eyewitness footage, appeared on several Russian Telegram channels at around 3pm local time. The incident was later confirmed by Crimean authorities and eventually by the defense ministry in Moscow as well.
