site.btaFifteen People Unaccounted for After Explosives Factory Blows Up on Wednesday, Authorities Believe They Have Died

Fifteen People Unaccounted for
After Explosives Factory Blows Up on Wednesday,
Authorities Believe They Have Died


Vidin, on the Danube, October 2 (BTA) - Fifteen people are
missing after an explosion occurred Wednesday at a factory
processing explosive materials in the village of Gorni Lom
(northwest Bulgaria). The chances for any of them to be found
alive are constantly decreasing and the Government declared
Friday, October 3, a day of national mourning. "Unfortunately
all currently available data from the specialized teams, which
are at the scene of the accident, leave little hope of finding
survivors," reads Cabinet's press release on Thursday.

The blast occurred around 5 pm on Wednesday. The factory is
private and manufactures explosives for civil purposes using old
ammunition. Three women were confirmed to have been injured by
the explosion.

"Hopes for finding any survivors after yesterday's explosion in
the Midzhour factory near the village of Gorni Lom have
evaporated. Apparently the 13 men and two women have died in the
explosion," head of the Chief Directorate Fire Safety and
Civil Protection Nikolay Nikolov told journalists Thursday.
Their relatives have been informed, he said. "We are not giving
up - we will continue to monitor the area," Nikolov added.

There were landmines in the plant, brought from Greece to be
utilized.

Nikolov further explained that the blast was very powerful,
leaving craters where two buildings and part of the factory were
located. Nearby buildings were damaged significantly by 150-200
kg chunks which were blown hundreds of metres away.

Police have sealed off the area around the factory and
established a security perimeter. Technical devices are being
used to conduct surveillance of the area, the Interior Ministry
said Thursday.

Interior Minister Yordan Bakalov arrived at the blast site on
Wednesday evening, his Ministry reported. Bakalov, Interior
Ministry Chief Secretary Svetlozar Lazarov and head of the Chief
Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection Nikolay Nikolov
are part of a special crisis task force, currently working on
site.

"The tragedy is huge, everything is destroyed, including the
bunker, in which workers at the Midzhour factory were supposed
to hide," said Bakalov emerging from a Thursday meeting of the
crisis task force.

Servicemen from the Bulgarian armed forces with specialized
equipment were dispatched to provide assistance in the area
around the explosion, the Defence Ministry said Thursday. The
equipment included an unmanned aerial vehicle and a robot
conducting surveillance and defusing unexploded ammunition. A
team of four specialists has entered the factory using
specialized equipment, Labour and Social Policy Minister Yordan
Hristoskov told BTA. Initially the authorities said that no
rescue teams will be allowed to enter the place before 24 hours
since the last explosion have passed. An unmanned aerial vehicle
had taken photographs of the area before the rescuers entered.

Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Svetlozar Lazarov explained
that the physical evidence will be analyzed so that the exact
number of victims can be determined. No signs of life have been
detected in the region so far, which is being monitored by
thermal imaging cameras.

The Bulgarian Red Cross has provided three psychologists, who
are currently on site. The Interior Ministry's efforts are
focused on gathering credible information about the number of
workers who were near the explosion, the press release says.

There is no danger for the population and no air pollution and
water pollution has been detected in the region of Gorni Lom,
said Head of the Montana Regional Environment and Water
Inspectorate, Lyubomir Ivanov, quoted by the Environment
Ministry's press centre.

Investigators of the National Investigation Service have been
sent to the site at the order of the Prosecutor General, the
Interior Ministry said earlier. The Prosecutor General is
coordinating the investigation of the explosion in Gorni Lom,
the prosecuting magistracy said.

The explosion cut off the electricity supply in the region, CEZ
Bulgaria said, adding that its teams have restored the supply
to all clients except to two hydroelectric power plants and the
factory where the blast occurred.

Minister Bakalov said that the dangerous weapons control service
with the Interior Ministry had conducted a check in the factory
on September 15, finding irregularities with the storage of
ammunition and lax control of working procedures. The
authorities had issued written statements.

The last incident at the Midzhour factory was in 2010, when an
ammunitions storage exploded, injuring four.

The General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency (GLI) has
issued seven written statements for administrative violations in
the Midzhour factory since the beginning of this year, said
Deputy Prime Minister and Labour and Social Policy Minister
Yordan Hristoskov.

The violations found by the GLI during the checks in the Gorni
Lom factory were not directly threatening the lives of workers,
head of the Agency's labour inspection directorate, Violeta
Dobreva told BTA.

President Rosen Plevneliev and Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki
have sent their condolences to the friends and relatives of
those who died.

Political parties, among them GERB, the Bulgarian Socialist
Party, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and ABV have
cancelled their election campaign events as a sign of respect to
the victims and sympathy. PK/MY