An ammunition dump at a Russian military base in Siberia has exploded, Russia's Tass reported on Monday.

The depot, according to the Russian defense ministry, held " gunpowder charges for artillery shells." A local emergency-services source told state media that the facility held around 40,000 artillery shells.

At least eight people were injured in the blast. Authorities are evacuating local residents who live within 12 miles of the depot.

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An ammunition dump at a Russian military base exploded on Monday, setting off fires that injured a handful of people, Russian media reported.

The blast occurred in Achinsk, a military town in Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region. "The explosion went off in an ammunition depot, evacuation is being carried out," a source with the emergency services in the area told the state-run news agency Tass.

Ammo-depot explosion. REUTERS/Dmitry Dub

"Two sites are on fire," the source added. "In total, there are about 40 thousand artillery shells of a 125 and 152-mm caliber there." The Russian defense ministry said the facility contained "gunpowder charges for artillery shells," The Associated Press reported.

Initial reports said at least four people were hurt, suffering burns and other injuries. That number has since risen to eight, Russian media reported, citing medical professionals.

All personnel have been evacuated from the scene, and local residents within 20 kilometers of the base are being evacuated "to ensure the security of the population of the settlements located near the depots," the main directorate of the Russian Emergencies Ministry for the Krasnoyarsk region said.

An estimated 11,000 people are being evacuated, Sputnik, another Russian media outlet, reported.

The explosion injured several people, according to Russian media. REUTERS/Dmitry Dub

Ammunition-depot explosions are not uncommon in Russia or former Soviet territories. An explosion at an ammunition storage site, one home to about 13 million shells, in Chapaevsk in Russia's Samara region in 2013 injured about 30 people.