MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia closed off an area of the White Sea to shipping for a month after the fatal explosion of a rocket engine on a military testing ground in Russia’s north earlier on Thursday, Interfax news agency cited the port of Arkhangelsk as saying.

The explosion of a liquid-propellant rocket engine killed two people on Thursday in Russia’s northern Arkhangelsk region, RIA news agency cited the Defence Ministry as saying earlier.

A port official said the Dvina Bay area of the White Sea would be closed to shipping.