A Russian aviation plant, that builds the Su-30 and Yak-130 military aircraft, caught fire late on Monday in the southeastern part of the country.

On 9 July, Russian emergency services were dispatched to an aviation plant, where a fire was burning openly at one of the facilities owned by Irkut Corporation Joint-Stock Company.

The fire, as noted, began at about 15:20 (10:20 Moscow time) in one of the shops of the enterprise. This is an anodic paint shop, where the tanks with acids (sulfuric and nitric) are located.

50 employees at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant (IAP) were evacuated. There was a burning roof on an area of 800 square meters. m, then the area of the fire increased to 1000 square meters. m.

The press service of the Irkut corporation specified that “according to preliminary information, the fire occurred in the casing under the bathroom, in which the processing of titanium spare parts.”

The plant has manufactured nearly 7000 aircraft of more than 20 types since 1934, which were delivered to 40 countries. Its current production list comprises Su-30МК and Su-30SM multirole fighters besides Yak-130 new-generation combat trainer aircraft and Yak-152 primary trainer.

In addition, the plant has launched a new assembly line for civil aircraft manufacture where production of the MC-21 family of airliners is organized.

Witnesses shot video of the fire on their cell phones after workers left the plant.