site.btaDangerous Explosives Found near Belitsa Ammunition Warehouse to Be Neutralized

Dangerous explosive materials found in the area of the destroyed ammunition warehouse near the village of Belitsa in the Tryavna municipality are to be neutralized, Senior Commissioner Iliyan Ivanov, Director of the Gabrovo Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, said at a briefing on Tuesday, commenting on the fire at an ammunition depot.

Ivanov said the Interior Ministry’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit was expected to begin operations on Tuesday to identify dangerous ammunition that could potentially explode later. There was currently information about one such item, which was to be neutralized on site, he said.

Ivanov clarified that the disposal operation did not necessarily have to take place only after 24 hours had elapsed since the incident or the last explosion. He said that on Monday, officers from the Interior Ministry’s Specialized Police Unit for Combating Terrorism had surveyed and inspected the area, including the site of the explosion, to assess the situation.

A more detailed inspection was to continue on Tuesday, when conditions were safer, as there had been risks to the safety of personnel the previous day, Ivanov explained.

Once the required safety period had elapsed, further operations would be carried out at the site jointly by the police, the Specialized Police Unit for Combating Terrorism and representatives of the Land Forces, who have expertise in this field. They would determine what measures were necessary both within the facility itself and outside it, where fragments had been scattered, Ivanov said.

Ammunition storage facilities are subject to periodic fire-safety inspections regardless of whether an incident has occurred, Senior Commissioner Ivanov added. He said such inspections were routine and carried out regularly.

Slavcho Demiev, director of a separate production unit at the EMCO military plant, also attended the briefing. He explained that the warehouses where materials and finished products were stored did not have electricity supplies. Firefighting equipment was located around the perimeter of the warehouses, he said, adding that the storage facilities themselves were not equipped with active fire-suppression systems.