Weapons depot catches fire in Bulgaria after explosion
An explosion occurred overnight into Saturday at a weapons storage facility near the village of Tsareva-Livada in central Bulgaria, followed by a fire. No casualties were reported.
Fire at the storage base
The flames were visible in videos broadcast by local media. Gabrovo Regional Governor Kristina Sidorova told journalists in the early hours of Saturday that the fire had engulfed the plant’s storage base and was spreading from one warehouse to another.
According to the Jerusalem Post, local media, citing an EMCO representative, said the fire occurred at a facility operated by the company. Reuters was unable to immediately obtain a comment from EMCO.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Investigation into previous explosions
According to local media, an explosion occurred at another EMCO facility last month. The company is run by Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev. Bulgarian prosecutors have claimed that Gebrev had previously been targeted in attacks on his facilities, which they allege were carried out by Russian operatives.
In 2024, Bulgaria issued arrest warrants for six Russian citizens accused of involvement in the destruction of EMCO warehouses. Between 2011 and 2020, these warehouses stored ammunition intended for export to Ukraine and Georgia. At the time, the prosecution said it had grounds to suspect a link between the explosions in Bulgaria, the attempted poisoning of Gebrev in 2015, and explosions at ammunition depots in the Czech Republic in 2014.
