Serbian munitions depot blows up, 20 hurt

PARACIN, Serbia, Oct 19 (Reuters) A military depot full of explosives blew up in Serbia today, injuring 20 people and causing major damage in the area, officials said.

A series of explosions at the depot, on a hill above Paracin 150 km south of Belgrade, blew out doors and windows in the town, causing light injuries from broken glass. Clouds of thick smoke billowed from the site.

No one was injured at the depot, which was used to store munitions and other military materials.

Defence Minister Zoran Stankovic said the cause of the explosion was not known and investigators would not be able to approach the site for 72 hours.

''The first blast at 4 am scattered unexploded ordnance in a radius of 5 km around the area,'' Stankovic said.

Interior Minister Dragan Jocic was quoted by state news agency Tanjug as saying that the depot was believed to hold 3,500 tonnes of explosives and ammunition in seven connected storage areas.

The inhabitants of Paracin and the nearby towns of Jagodina and Cuprija were woken up by the explosion, with many staying out on the streets.

A worker at a petrol station said he was blown a metre and a half from where he was standing by the first blast.

Some residents said it reminded them of the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia.

''It felt like during the bombing, maybe even more intense,'' Kristina Petrovic, a teacher, told Reuters by telephone.

She said two huge blasts were heard within two hours and the ground shook like an earthquake. By mid-morning, there was only rumbling and occasional small blasts.

Almost all of those injured had been released by mid-day.

Police closed the main highway, running from the capital to Serbia's second largest city of Nis, that passes by Paracin.

Suspended local and international railway traffic to the town resumed early in the afternoon. Schools were shut for the day.

Fifty buses were on standby in case an evacuation became necessary. Military officials said there was no danger of chemical pollution.

REUTERS PB RK1930