Explosions lit up the sky as a fire raged at an ammunition depot in eastern Russia. No one has been seriously hurt but the blasts caused damage over a widespread area. Some 4,000 people in villages around the depot on the Kamchatsky peninsula have been evacuated from their homes.

A ten kilometre exclusion zone has been set up around the area. It is understood artillery shells due for destruction were being stored in an open space at the naval munitions dump.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. There have been similar incidents at other military depots in the region in recent years.

As day broke huge columns of smoke could be seen rising into the air and explosions could reportedly be heard 60 kilometres away.