ALMATY – The death toll from a series of blasts at an ammunition warehouse in Kazakhstan’s southern Jambyl region has reached nine, officials said on Friday.
Blasts triggered by Thursday’s fire at a Kazakh munitions storage facility also wounded 90 others, authorities in the central Asian nation said.
At least 10 explosions were reported while it remains unclear what caused the fire at the military base in the southern province of Zhambyl where engineering explosives were stored, Defence Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev told a briefing.
Four people remained missing, according to the government.
Authorities evacuated hundreds of people from the nearby area and closed the main road linking the province to the biggest city of Almaty.
Separately, traffic and railway authorities said they were closing off a road and a railroad passing through the area.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the incident was being investigated.
