A rocket explosion in Russia has sparked reports of a spike in radiation levels and sent residents into panic — even as the Kremlin denies anyone’s in danger.
Defense officials have nonetheless shut down fishing, swimming and shipping traffic in a portion of the White Sea.
Two people were killed and six — including a rocket engineer and a military specialists — were injured in what the Kremlin said was a test missile crash at a military testing site near the Northeastern Russian city of Severodvinsk, The Guardian reported.
Defense ministry officials have denied reports of high radiation levels near the base, and said there had been “no harmful discharges into the atmosphere.”
But the BBC reported that supplies of iodine — used to protect the thyroid from the effects of radiation — were running out in Severodvinsk and neighboring Arkhangelsk.
“Yesterday it was all sold out,” one pharmacist said. “The excitement started at about five o’clock, and they brought all of it before we closed. At the checkout people were discussing the news about radiation in Severodvinsk, the explosion at the military site.”
Officials in Severodvinsk told the BBC that radiation levels reached 2 microsieverts per hour before falling back to the normal 0.11 about 40 minutes later.
However, city officials later deleted the statement online, saying they did so “because this incident comes under the authority of the defense ministry.”
Defense ministry officials said that “there have been no harmful chemicals released into the atmosphere, the radiation levels are normal.”
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