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Blasts, fire at Venezuela arms depot, 3 wounded
A fire set off a series of explosions at a military arms depot in the Venezuelan city of Maracay on Sunday, injuring three people and leading authorities to evacuate the area, an official said.
A fire set off a series of explosions at a military arms depot in the Venezuelan city of Maracay on Sunday, injuring three people and leading authorities to evacuate the area, an official said.
Residents were being evacuated from areas within six kilometers (about four miles) surrounding the arms depot, Aragua state Gov. Rafael Isea told state television. Isea initially said about 40 people were reported injured in the explosions, but he later told state television that three people were injured during the chaos that ensued following the blasts.
"Residents gave us the initial reports regarding the number of injured ... but we've confirmed that only three people have entered the Maracay Hospital," Isea said.
The cause of the fire was unclear.
Information Minister Andres Izarra went on state television calling for calm and saying that authorities were tending to the situation. Isea said smaller explosions were continuing Sunday morning and that firefighters would wait until they had subsided to approach those areas.
State radio reported the three people brought to the hospital were hurt in traffic accidents amid the chaos following the first explosions.
