Ten killed in an explosion at a Russian munitions factory in the Urals

An explosion at a Russian factory in the Urals that makes ammunition and weapons for the military has killed at least 10 people, reports say.

Witnesses described seeing explosions and a fireball at the Plastmass military plant in Kopeysk, near the city of Chelyabinsk.

Regional governor Alexey Teksler did not specify which factory was damaged, but confirmed the number of dead. The TASS news agency reported that 18 more people were injured.

Authorities did not say what caused the blast, but Texler stressed that “there is no talk of a UAV (drone) attack.”

A day of mourning has been declared and investigators said they had opened criminal proceedings into the blast.

Texler said the Kopeisk fire was extinguished.