Fire at ammunition depot in Bulgaria raises fears of neglect or sabotage

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarian authorities have launched investigations into an explosion at a weapons storage site in central Bulgaria overnight that came in the wake of another blaze at a munitions depot in recent weeks.

Interior Minister Ivan Dermendzhiev on Saturday told reporters that no one was injured in the blaze near the village of Tsareva Livada and that the fire was under control, with investigations ongoing.

He also indicated that the incident might be linked to a previous fire at another facility of the EMCO company in August.

“There is a neglect of the conditions under which explosives and ammunition are stored,” Demerdzhiev said, putting blame on the management.

“There is also neglect of the method of security — we have one incident, we have a second. This activity is a serious enough source of danger not to neglect measures in any way,” he said.

Demerdzhiev who is part of the center-left government of former president Rumen Radev, which has been hesitant to provide military aid to Ukraine, did not comment on suggestions made by opposition parties that the fires could be linked to sabotage actions by Moscow against plants supplying arms to Ukraine.

In the past decade, there have been several explosions at arms factories of the EMCO company, which has been supplying arms to Ukraine.

In 2015, EMCO owner Emilian Gebrev survived an assassination attempt against him, for which charges have been lodged against three Russian nationals suspected to be Russian military intelligence operatives.