Bulgaria probes explosion at weapon storage site

Bulgaria is investigating the cause of a fire at a weapons storage facility operated by EMCO, including the possibility of sabotage and a link to a previous blaze at another of the company’s facilities in August, the interior minister said.

No ‌injuries were reported in the fire, which broke out near the village of Tsareva Livada and lit up the night sky, according to videos broadcast locally. The incident came weeks after an explosion and fire at another EMCO weapons depot in western Bulgaria.

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told journalists on Saturday that the fire was under control and that an investigation was under way.

“We will review previous cases in which similar fires occurred in the warehouses of this company, as well as at other companies, to look for a possible connection or a similar pattern,” he said.

“We are not ruling out outside interference.”

EMCO later said in ‌a statement that the fire was the result of sabotage, citing more than 10 similar incidents at Bulgarian defence firms since 2011, although it did not identify any suspects.