• Two people are dead and at least four others are injured after a rocket engine exploded at a naval base in Nyonoksa, northern Russia, state media said.
  • The engine exploded while specialists were testing the engine’s “liquid propulsion system,” the Russian defense ministry said, according to state outlets.
  • The Nyonoksa naval base tests almost all missile systems used by the Russian navy, the BBC reported.
  • Russia said there are “no emissions of harmful substances” and that the “radiation background is normal” after the explosion.
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Two people are dead and at least four others are injured after a rocket engine exploded at a naval base in Russia’s northwestern Arkhangelsk region, the country’s state-run media reported Thursday, citing the country’s defense ministry.

The engine exploded while specialists were testing the engine’s “liquid propulsion system,” the ministry said, according to Tass.

The base is located in the rural village of Nyonoksa, RIA Novosti reported.

According to the BBC, the Nyonoksa range tests almost all missile systems used by the Russian navy, including sea-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles. Arkhangelsk, the oblast where it’s located, is also a major naval hub.

Russia Cruise missile with Burevestnik

Foto: Russia testing its nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile in February 2019.sourceScreenshot/YouTube via Russian Defense Ministry

The two people who died were civilian specialists, while the injured people consisted of military and civilian personnel, the BBC reported.

A total of six people were injured, though it's immediately not clear if the two people who died were part of that count.

All victims were taken to hospital via helicopter, RIA reported. The conditions of the injured people are not known.

Russia's defense ministry also stressed that there were "no emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, the radiation background is normal," Tass reported.

Russia navy submarine

Foto: Russian nuclear submarine Dmitry Donskoy sails under the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark on its way to Saint Petersburg, July 21, 2017.sourceScanpix Denmark/Sarah Christine Noergaard via Reuters

A Russian Navy research submarine caught fire by the country's Severomorsk naval base, near Nyonoksa, last month. Fourteen people on board died after being poisoned by burning materials.

A Russian cruise missile part also hit an apartment block in Nyonoksa in 2015. Nobody was hurt.