Why in the Astrakhan region an ammunition depot exploded

Why in the Astrakhan region an ammunition depot exploded


Explosions in warehouses and test sites of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation have already become quite common. The next incident occurred in May 2012 in the Astrakhan region on the landfill for the disposal of ammunition.



Why in the Astrakhan region an ammunition depot exploded


The explosion occurred on May 25, 2012 in Astrakhanregion, on the territory of the thirty-second aviation range "Ashuluk", owned by the Ministry of Defense of Russia. The incident happened when unloading ammunition from a KAMAZ truck, as a result of the fire, one hundred and forty-five boxes containing eight hundred and forty shots to grenade launchers intended for disposal were blown up. One soldier was injured, he received medical assistance. There are no dead. After the explosion, a check has been started at the test site, military investigators are studying all the circumstances of the incident. According to preliminary data, the cause of the explosion was the ignition of a paper container that was near ammunition. After seeing the flames, servicemen carrying out the unloading of the car had managed to hide. The car, which brought boxes of ammunition, is not subject to recovery. Unfortunately, this is not the first explosion at this test site. On August 23, 2011, during the unloading of missiles for the Grad installations, the engine of one of the munitions spontaneously triggered. As a result, a fire began, followed by a detonation of shells. As a result of the incident, eight servicemen of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation were killed, and ten were injured of varying degrees of severity. The military explains the need for dismantling of ammunition by the expiration of their shelf life and the danger of further storage. The ammunition to be destroyed is transported to the landfill and undermined. This method of recycling is the cheapest, so it is very widely used. However, old shells, mines, charges for grenade launchers and salvo fire systems, stored in warehouses for decades, are very unreliable and can sometimes detonate even from accidental impact. That is why incidents at the time of their destruction occur with frightening regularity, sometimes leading to numerous victims.