"The explosion at the Tambov Powder Plant occurred during the installation and piping of pyroxylin hot washing vats by a third-party contractor," the company said.
It is noted that as a result of the incident, 12 people were injured. Four of them died.
Among the victims are one employee of the powder factory, and the rest are employees of contractors.
All the victims were taken to a medical facility.
The head of the Tambov region, Maxim Egorov, said that the cause of the emergency at the local powder factory was the human factor.
On June 20, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Tambov Region announced that a fire had occurred in the building of a gunpowder factory in the city of Kotovsk.