Fatal blast at Russian arms depot

At least one person has been killed and another 35 people are missing after a series of blasts tore through an arms depot in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk.

Sergei Morozov, the governor of the Ulyanovsk region, said that more than3,000 people had been evacuated from the surrounding area.

Morozov said: "According to preliminary information, there were 40 people in the workshop, around 35 of which are are currently listed as missing."

Alexander Bukin, Ulyanovsk's deputy mayor, said that the blasts, which rattled windows and set off car alarms, had taken place at a depot where conventional arms were stored.

Ulyanovsk, located about 900km east of Moscow, the capital, is best known as the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader.