Killer fireworks

23 Sep, 2009 12:58 / Updated 15 years ago

At least one person has been killed and 34 injured in an explosion at a fireworks warehouse in the central Russian town of Voronezh.

At least 24 have been hospitalized, with two in a critical condition.

According to the Voronezh region emergency chief Igor Kobzev, 35 of those injured were residents of apartment buildings near the warehouse. The rest were passersby.

The regional Emergency Ministry cited breaches of storage rules for explosives as a possible reason for the blast.

The explosion, and the fire that followed, completely destroyed the warehouse and smashed the windows of nearby buildings.

Firefighters have now put out the flames and are searching through the rubble.