No Risk for Citizens after Bulgaria Ammo Warehouse Blast

Society » INCIDENTS | March 22, 2015, Sunday // 10:49
Bulgaria: No Risk for Citizens after Bulgaria Ammo Warehouse Blast Firefighters are already working at the scene, and most of the flames have been extinguished as of Sunday morning. Photo by BGNES

The situation in the village of Iganovo, Southern Bulgaria, is under control after a series of explosions that rocked an ammo warehouse on Saturday evening, officials say.

Earlier, it was reported that the incident had taken place at a plant of the VMZ Sopot ammunition manufacturer, which is managed by Bulgaria's Economy Ministry.

No-one has been injured or hurt following the explosions.

At about 19:30 EET (17:30 GMT) one of the facilities burst into flames after an explosion, and others followed suit due to the impact of the blast, preliminary information suggests.

Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Georgi Kostov told Darik Radio on Sunday that the area was still sealed off, and that minor flames were still raging but firefighters have largely put out the fire. No inspectors will enter the area to look into the causes for the incident before 24 hours have passed after the incident, in line with safety requirements.

The area around the warehouse is currently sealed off. Ministers of economy and defense arrived at the scene Saturday night, with the former, Bozhidar Lukarski, making clear there was "no ground" for panic.

He evoked memories of a 1978 blast that in his words many people recall with fears.

Alongside other officials he reiterated there were no people at the warehouse at the time of the blasts.

However, media reports suggest that during the day there had been workers in the warehouse where the incident started.

There are more than 20 similar facilities in Iganovo, and explosions seem to have taken place in few of them, but data from UAVs sent to hover in the area has not yet been made available.

Private national TV channel reported Sunday morning there were as many as 2000 unmanageable projectiles were stored in the first facilities at the time of the blast.

Saturday's developments are the latest in a series of explosions at ammo plants or warehouses that have rocked Bulgaria in the past years.

The last one, at the Midzhur ammo plant in Bulgaria's north-west, claimed the lives of 15 people late on October 1 last year.

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Tags: Iganovo, Bulgaria, VMZ Sopot, blast, explosion, Bulgaria, Georgi Kostov, bozhidar lukarski

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