Moscow - Firefighters succeeded early Saturday to contain a fire at a military ammunitions depot in western Russia, which left two soldiers dead and 11 people missing.

The fire broke out Friday in the city of Ulyanovsk, some 900 kilometres east of Moscow.

Massive explosions occurred for hours afterwards, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. Around 3,000 people living near the base were evacuated from the area by local authorities and the area was blocked off up to 7 kilometres around the accident site.

A local government spokesman said 11 people, including soldiers and civilian workers were still missing, their fate unclear. It was believed that they had been close to the explosion site, Sergei Davydov said.

Two soldiers were killed in the fire, the Defence Ministry said. One injured person remained in critical condition.

Forty-three servicemen, who had been reported missing earlier, were rescued from a bomb shelter where they had hidden from the flames.

According to a statement on the ministry's website the explosions occurred during the disposal of ammunition at one of the army's arsenals. Officials stressed that no chemical weapons were stored at the facility. (dpa)