KIEV, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government on Wednesday decided to allocate 3.6 million U.S. dollars in relief after a fire engulfed an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army in the country's northern Chernigiv region, the cabinet's press service said.

In particular, the funds will be used to help people affected by the incident to rebuild their destroyed houses.

The fire started overnight Tuesday at an ammunition warehouse, which lies near the town of Ichnya, about 170 km east of Kiev.

The blaze triggered the subsequent massive detonation of the ammunition, scattering debris in a radius of 16 km around the 682-hectare depot.

According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the depot contained about 69,500 tons of ammunition, including 43,000 tons of ammo ready to use.

Efforts to extinguish the fire are still underway.