UPDATED: 15 dead after fire at Russian explosives factory: authorities

This handout photograph taken and released by the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on October 22, 2021, shows firefighters working to put out a fire at a gunpowder and chemicals plant in Ryazan Region. – Seven people died and nine others were missing after a fire on Friday at a factory southeast of Moscow that produces industrial explosives as well as armaments. (Photo by Yuri KADOBNOV / RUSSIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY / AFP)

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Fifteen people died as a result of a fire at a Russian explosives factory southeast of Moscow on Friday, local authorities said.

The government of the Ryazan region, where the factory is based, said “15 people died and one person has serious burns” and is in critical condition. It said one more person is missing.

© Agence France-Presse