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More than 100,000 people have been told to leave their homes after a series of powerful explosions at a military depot in Russia's Siberia.

The blasts left several people injured with one feared dead.

The Emergencies Ministry said that 9,533 people have been evacuated and about 7,000 fled on their own after Monday's fire at a military ammunition depot near the city of Achinsk in eastern Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region.

The Mayor also told the city's residents, which is around 100,000 people, to prepare to evacuate.

The fire triggered massive explosions that sent plumes of black smoke high into the skies.

Around 40,000 artillery shells typically used for tanks and howitzers blew up.

Locals in the area reported black coloured rain following the blasts.

Soldiers from the military unit hid in a bomb shelter during the firestorm.

At least eight people were hospitalised with shrapnel wounds, including two servicemen.

Some victims were said to have sustained minor burns.

The shockwave from the blasts shattered windows in some houses as they echoed throughout Kamenka.

Authorities suspended air traffic within 19 miles of the munitions site and halted train movement.

Russia's Defence Ministry sent 10 heavy transport planes and eight helicopters to extinguish the blaze.

The blaze is the latest in a series of fires at Russian military arsenals over the past few years.

Officials have not announced the cause of the fire yet.

Achinsk is an industrial city on the Trans-Siberian railway with a population of over 100,000.

The city administration said in a website statement: "We ask you to stay calm and to exclude trips towards the emergency area.

"Mayor of the city Ilay Akhmetov and task group of united dispatcher system is at the site."