Severomorsk Disaster
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The Severomorsk Disaster was a deadly series of munitions fires that resulted in the detonation and destruction of large amounts of munitions that lasted from May 13 to 17, 1984, within the Okolnaya naval munitions depot, near the Severomorsk Naval Base (headquarters of the Northern Fleet of the Soviet Navy). The detonation occurred in the Northern Russian "closed" town of Severomorsk (Russian: Северомо́рск), over 900 miles (1,448.4 kilometers) from the Russian capital Moscow.[6][7]
Date | 13–17[1][2] May, 1984 |
---|---|
Time | Unknown |
Duration | ca. 5 days |
Location | Severomorsk, Murmansk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
Type | munitions explosions, fire |
Deaths | 200–300 killed[3][4] |
Non-fatal injuries | Unknown |
Property damage | 580 of the Northern Fleet's estimated 900 S-125 Neva/Pechora surface-to-air missiles and 320 of the fleet's 400 SS-N-3 Shaddock cruise missiles.[5] |
Munitions had reportedly detonated after a fire started on May 13, which thus caused a massive chain of explosions on May 17, and resulted in the deaths of at least 200–300 people, and the destruction of at least 900 of the Northern Fleet's missiles and torpedoes.[4]
Most of the dead were allegedly ordnance technicians "sent into the fire in a desperate but unsuccessful effort to defuse or disassemble munitions before they exploded", according to the New York Times.[8][9]