Kazakhstan Arms Depot Blast Death Toll Rises To 14

By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service August 30, 2021

The death toll from a series of blasts triggered by a fire at an arms depot in southern Kazakhstan has risen to 14 after another victim was discovered.

The Kazakh Emergency Ministry said on August 29 that a body was found under the debris of a building destroyed by the fire and explosions. Two people remain missing, it added.

The blast at a military facility in the Zhambyl region injured 98 people -- about half of them employees of the Emergency Ministry who were hurt while battling the blaze.

Defense Minister Nurlan Ermekbaev told a press briefing on August 27 that It was unclear what caused the fire a day earlier at the military facility where engineering explosives were stored. Ermekbaev added that neither arson nor sabotage could be ruled out.

August 29 was a day of national mourning for the military personnel and rescuers who died at the scene of the accident.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakh- depot-blast-deaths/31434931.html

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