Arys: Two people died and 165 others injured during an explosion jolted a military depot in the southern province of Turkestan, ministry of internal affairs said on Tuesday.
The blast occurred on Monday morning in the southern town of Arys. However, after the incident, as many as 41,000 residents of the town have been evacuated.
Deputy minister of internal affairs Yuri Ilyin said that one person was killed after his car was hit by the shell, while the body of other person was found near the military unit during the search operations.
The blast was followed by a massive fire at the military unit.
"At present, it is impossible to extinguish (the) fire at the military unit because of the explosion of the shells. There are 23 groups of firefighters working in Arys. Evacuation measures are ongoing, (and) 2815 people were evacuated from the territory of the emergency," the ministry said.
The defence ministry has deployed more than 1,200 soldiers to evacuate residents of the town as well as to ensure public order.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Turkestan province.
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