MOSCOW (Reuters) -The death toll following an explosion last week at a military plant near the Russian Urals city of Chelyabinsk has nearly doubled to 23 people, local authorities said on Wednesday.
An explosion last Thursday at an industrial facility in the city of Kopeisk, just to the east of the regional capital Chelyabinsk, killed at least a dozen people and injured some two dozen more, the regional governor, Aleksei Teksler, said at the time.
All 23 victims were employees at the plant, Teksler said on Wednesday. He also said there was no indication the facility was attacked by drones. Ukraine did not comment on the incident.
Local media, citing eyewitnesses, reported last week that the explosion had occurred at the ‘Plastmass’ plant, which is controlled by Russian state corporation Rostec.
Russian investigators have opened a criminal case into the explosion.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
