Dozens wounded by blasts at Kazakh military facility

ALMATY (Reuters) -Kazakhstan has evacuated settlements located next to a military facility in its southern Zhambyl province after it was rocked by a series of powerful blasts that wounded at least 60 people, authorities in the Central Asian nation said on Thursday.

The blasts followed a fire at the facility, where some engineering-purpose explosives were stored, deputy defence minister Ruslan Shpekbayev said. Separately, traffic and railway authorities said they were closing off a road and a railroad passing through the area.