MOSCOW (AFP) — Nine soldiers were killed and four injured on Tuesday by an explosion of ammunition in the war-ravaged southern Russian province of Chechnya, Russian news agencies reported, citing defence officials.
"Today at 5:15 pm (1315 GMT)... an uncontrolled explosion occurred as ammunition was being transferred from a tank into a vehicle" near the town of Shali, a defence ministry statement was quoted as saying.
Two of the six injured following the explosion died in surgery, raising the initial death toll from seven to nine, the Russian military in the northern Caucasus said, according to Interfax.
Prosecutors have opened an inquiry into the explosion and Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov dispatched a special investigative commission to look into the incident, the reports said.
Chechnya has fought two wars for independence from Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Guerrilla attacks remain frequent despite the end of major combat operations in the latest conflict, which began in 1999.
Russia continues to have thousands of troops stationed in the province.
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