Bulgaria: An ammunition depot owned by arms dealer Emilian Gebrev was blasted on July 31 by an explosion. The blast occurred at around 4:00 a.m. local time at the EMCO ammunition depot near the city of Karnobat in southeastern Bulgaria.
According to the reports, the fire was hastily extinguished, and workers were rescued. No injuries are reported.
Furthermore, Gebrev said that the ammunition stored in the warehouse had been ordered by companies, but payment was still due.
He said that cause of the blast is yet to be determined. The incident is again linked to Russia. In April 2012, a Russian diplomat was expelled by Bulgarian authorities as they suspected about six Russian citizens were involved in a series of a blast that hit four weapons and armament facilities over the period the last ten years.
Bulgarian Ministry declared one more undesirable Russian diplomat’s involvement and requested the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation to help them by providing full- assistance to the Bulgarian authorities in their investigation into the blasts; the Ministry said at that time.
A drone surveyed the scene of the incident, and the area will remain under surveillance. The site will be sealed for the next 72 hours, and no one will be allowed to enter the point of the incident during this time.
Furthermore, clearing the rumours, Gebrev said,” It is not about human error. It cannot be an error. You cannot expect a blast like this at 4:00 a.m. An explosion was heard this time, and soon the warehouse caught fire. No one could know what was inside the car because the place was under surveillance by the police officials. It is forbidden to enter the area for the next 24 hours, but these are just ammunition that is no longer needed in the factory. Some companies once ordered them for their purposes but did not pay for them, which is what we do with them. We store it.”
The Deputy mayor of Karnabot, Stefka Ivanova, said there is no danger to the population.