Five dead in engine blast at Russia’s secret 6,000mph ballistic missile facility as locals flee 20-times radiation spike
FIVE staff at a weapons plant in north east Russia have been killed and three have suffered serious burns after what is suspected to have been a test of a new hyper-sonic cruise missile.
Meanwhile residents in cities in the Arkhangelsk region, which are nearby the military testing site, are stocking up on iodine to try to counter the effects of radiation exposure amid fears of a leak.
A statement from Russia’s nuclear corporation Rosatom said: “As a result of the accident at the military firing range in Arkhangelsk during liquid reactive propulsion system tests, five employees of the state corporation Rosatom were killed.”
The victims of the explosion were brought to Moscow today in ambulances staffed by drivers and paramedics wearing special chemical protection suits, according to BAZA media in Russia.
The backs of the vehicles appeared to be wrapped in a protective film amid concern over radiation seeping out from the vehicles.
The victims were being reportedly evacuated to Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Centre in Moscow, to receive specialist care.
Earlier the clothes of the victims and the medics who first treated them were destroyed, it was reported.
Meanwhile residents nearby the test accident fear for their safety after a spike in radiation levels were reported.
“Everyone has been calling asking about iodine all day,” one pharmacy was quoted as saying by 29.Ru, a media outlet that covers the Arkhangelsk area.
It said the run on iodine, which can be used to reduce the effects of radiation exposure, had happened in the naval northern port cities of Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk and that several pharmacies had run out.
Reuters news agency reported another chemist saying: “We still have iodine left … but a really large number of people have come in for it today.”
Moscow has thrown a veil of secrecy over the incident yesterday in sub-Arctic Arkhangelsk region.
Authorities have shut down an area of the Dvina Bay in the White Sea to shipping for a month near the accident site, without explaining why.
Radiation levels temporarily soared 20 times above the normal level in Severodvinsk, a city lying some 18 miles from the weapons testing site Nenoksa, according to Greenpeace citing the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
Claims that a mishap in the development of the Zircon hypersonic weapon was to blame surfaced from two sources, reported
The accident was believed to have been caused by the explosion of a liquid-propellant rocket engine and subsequent fire believed to have been on a vessel, possibly a barge.
The Zircon – or Tsirkon – with its Mach 8 missile has been identified by Moscow’s state-controlled TV as Vladimir Putin’s weapon of choice to wipe out American cities in the event of nuclear war.
Tests were reportedly due in the latter part of 2019 but there was no official confirmation that the Zircon – developed in secrecy – was involved in Thursday’s incident at a base used for virtually all naval missile tests.
The scale of local panic in the aftermath of the “radiation spike” incident was revealed today, as a video emerged showing the wounded being transported by helicopter to a regional hospital in Arkhangelsk.
The Russian health ministry denied any medical concerns among the general population after claims of a radiation spike.
“Civilians and residents of neighbouring populated localities were not hurt,” the ministry said.
Ksenia Yudina, a spokeswoman for the city government in Severodvinsk had said: “A short-term rise in background radiation was recorded at noon.”
But the military authorities played down any danger.
“There have been no harmful discharges into the atmosphere, and radiation levels are normal,” said a spokesman.
Ekho Severa radio accused the Russian Emergencies Ministry of failing to give clear information on the incident to the media.
“We want to stress that yet again the Ministry of Emergencies press services refuses to communicate with the media,” said one report.
“There are no updates from them.”
In an extraordinary move, Dmitry Chistyakov, head of press service of Archangelsk region’s Emergencies Ministry, revealed he had been banned from answering media questions on the incident.
He told the media: “Colleagues, to my deepest personal regret I am banned from commenting the situation in Nyonoksa.
“I have received so many calls and didn’t take about 40.”
But he said that in Severodvinsk and Nyonoksa “the radiation is normal at 12 mkr/h”.
Greenpeace has written to environmental watchdogs in Russia and neighbouring Norway calling on them “to investigate the consequences of the explosion”.
Former Northern Fleet commander Admiral Vyacheslav Popov said: “Explosions at test sites are commonplace.
“They should be treated calmly. This was a test. A negative result is also a result.
“In order for a missile to fly, you need to test all its components: engines, fuel – everything.”
He forecast the Russian authorities would give scant detail of the incident.
“Only those who participated could say what went wrong. Yet no one will name all the reasons,” he said.
“This requires an investigation.
“It is not known what kind of explosion, the volume, or scale. There is no such information yet. ”
One local named Sergey Dolgushin from Severodvinsk said: “Uusually if the authorities say that everything is okay it means the exact opposite.
“This is exactly how they were lying to people at Chernobyl.”
Deep secrecy has surrounded tests and designs of the Zircon, which Putin claims is unmatched by any Western missile.
In May it was reported that trials launching the missile from a naval vessel would be started later in 2019.
Previously it is believed that the shark-nosed Zircon has been tested at least five times from land-based sites, and is capable of a speed of 1.7 miles per second.
In June 2017 the missile reached eight times the speed of sound, according to reports.
This is exactly how they were lying to people at Chernobyl
Local resident Sergey Dolgushin
The Royal Navy’s Sea Ceptor surface-to-air missile is reportedly only capable of intercepting targets flying up to Mach 3.
Hypersonic cruise missile Zircon is designed to be used against ships or land-based targets, and to enter production in 2021, commencing service the following year.
In April, Dmitry Kiselyov, presenter of Russia’s main weekly TV news show Vesti Nedeli, showed on screen a map of the US identifying targets he claimed Moscow would want to hit in a nuclear war.
Kiselyov, seen as a top Putin propagandist, said the Zircon missile could hit the targets in less than five minutes.
Putin warned this year that the West is seeking to steal secrets relating to Zircon and other state-of-the-art Russian weapons such as the Avangard.
He told his FSB counter-intelligence service: “That means that your work should become even more effective.”
Explosions have also been reported at the Russian arms depot in Achinsk where five people are said to have been injured.
Interfax News says people living close to the base were evacuated due to exploding shells.
The latest blast comes four days after another series of blasts killed one and injured a further 13.
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