A huge explosion at an optical equipment factory near Moscow on Wednesday left dozens of people hurt and prompted emergency evacuations from surrounding buildings, authorities said.
A gray mushroom-shaped cloud towered above the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant (ZOMZ) in the town of Sergiyev Posad, around 40 miles northeast of Moscow, in the wake of the blast.
The town’s administration said on Telegram that a “total evacuation” was in effect at all the plant’s buildings and workshops, while the Tass state news agency reported that 30 people had been hurt. Of those, 19 were rushed to hospital and three were so seriously injured that they are being treated in intensive care.
ADVERTISEMENT
An emergency service source told RIA Novosti that a preliminary investigation found that the explosion was caused by “a violation of the technological process.” The plant reportedly manufactures night vision goggles and binoculars for the Russian military.
The blast came after Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed two drones had been shot down as they tried to attack the Russian capital late Tuesday.
And as authorities in the Moscow region were scrambling to deal with the fallout of the blast in Sergiyev Posad, residents hundreds of miles away in Voronezh reported hearing several explosions. Local authorities said there was no cause for alarm, however: The blasts were attributed to military training in the area.
The same explanation was provided by authorities in Vladivostok, in the Far East of the country, where residents reported a loud explosion at a military base followed by the arrival of police, firefighters, and the Federal Security Service, according to the independent outlet Astra.
A local politician and human rights activist, Maksim Chikhunov, took to Telegram to claim residents in the area had been told to keep their mouths shut about the explosion.
“FSB officers came in the morning and questioned us. They told the neighbor not to tell anyone about what happened,” an unnamed resident was quoted saying.
The press service of the Eastern Military District said the commotion was simply the result of troops practicing “repelling a simulated air attack.”
Read it at The Moscow Times
