Bulgarian army completes clearing unexploded ordnance at Emco arms plant
The clearing of the area around the Emco plant from unexploded ordnance and metal debris following the August 10 incident has been completed, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defence said on September 8.
The arms plant was the site of a major blaze on August 10.
The Ministry of Defence said that from August 17 to September 3, a specialist engineering group from the army, together with a team from the Military Medical Academy, surveyed and secured the terrain around the outer perimeter of the plant.
During the inspection of an area of 566 sq m, the military personnel found 60 unexploded ordnance of various calibres. Two of them were destroyed on site, and the rest were handed over for disposal.
In addition to the ammunition, the team collected and delivered to the plant about two tons of metal debris formed as a result of the explosions.
As The Sofia Globe reported at the time, Emco said in a media statement on August 10 that the causes of the incident are being clarified, with human error being ruled out.
In addition to the fact that there were no injuries, no forest resources were affected and no environmental pollution was caused, the company said.
The Emco statement cited similar incidents at the company’s warehouses in 2011, 2022, and 2023 and said that the investigations into them are still at a dead end.
“Similar incidents occurred over the past 15 years at other defence manufacturers, including VMZ Sopot, in spring 2015. The investigations into these incidents are still at a dead end, despite all our calls for results,” the company said.
It is understood that part of Emco’s production goes to Ukraine for that country’s defence against Russia’s illegal invasion.
Bulgarian media, recalling earlier explosions at arms plants, said that after a long delay, Bulgarian authorities had said that four explosions at military warehouses were likely carried out by officers from the Russian military intelligence (GRU).
One of the cases was at an Emco warehouse in Lovnidol.
There was an assassination attempt in 2015 against Emco owner Emilian Gebrev. Five years later, as public interest in the case in 2018 of the poisoning in the UK of Sergei Skripal, held to be the work of Russia, Bulgaria lodged charges in connection with the Gebrev case against three Russians – Denis Sergeev, Sergey Lyutenko, and Yegor Gordienko.
(Photo: Ministry of Defence)
