site.btaTryavna Mayor Minev: No Casualties in Defence Plant Explosion

An explosion at a defence plant near Tryavna caused no casualties, Tryavna Mayor Dencho Minev said on Monday.

A fire broke out earlier on Monday in an ammunition warehouse at the defence plant near the village of Belitsa. No one was killed or injured.

Minev said the warehouse contained no materials that could pose a toxic hazard or endanger public health. Citing information from the company management, he added that there was no risk of radiation or serious toxic contamination following the incident.

A forest fire broke out after the explosions. Fire crews and Tryavna Municipality’s volunteer unit were sent to the scene.

People in the area of the fire were being evacuated. Mayoral representatives and teams on the ground were identifying those present, most of whom were elderly people with permanent addresses in the area, the municipality said.

A mobile air-quality monitoring station is on its way from Plovdiv and will be deployed at Plachkovtsi Mayoralty. Its purpose is to determine which particles are present in the air after the incident and ensuing fire.

“The most important thing is that no one was killed or injured,” Minev said. He added that all plant employees had been evacuated and were not currently at risk.

Minev said protocol required a wait of at least 24 hours to determine whether further explosions were possible. For that reason, the forest fire sparked by the explosions was currently the main problem.

The fire had already spread nearly three kilometres from the plant. Fire crews and the municipal volunteer unit were working to contain it.

The incident began when a truck caught fire, triggering explosions in some warehouses at the EMCO Ltd. ammunition plant. Five fire engines and gendarmerie units were deployed, nearby settlements were evacuated as a precaution, and the Gabrovo Regional Governor activated the BG-ALERT system.