Fire destroys missiles at Russian air base

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - A fire ripped through a military depot in northwestern Russia on Friday, destroying hundreds of air-to-air missiles, local media reported.

The fire destroyed the depot at an air base housing Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets near the town of Lodeinoye Pole, some 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Russia's second city of St Petersburg, Russian news agencies reported.

"The fire destroyed 450 rockets of the air-to-air class. We have yet to establish how many of them exploded and how many were damaged by fire, but in any case they can't be used," Interfax news agency quoted a Russian military source as saying.

There were no casualty reports.

A local journalist said by telephone he saw plumes of black smoke, heard explosions and saw an occasional missile streak through the sky. The explosions lasted for just over an hour.

"It flew over my head, right to my workshop," said Vasily Korshunov, who took pictures on a mobile phone that were broadcast by Russia's Vesti-24 state television.

"Then I realised my son was there. It flew straight at him, but he managed to run away."

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow)

(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)