Fireworks warehouses near Elin Pelin have been burning for 5 hours

Warehouses for fireworks and other pyrotechnics located between the town of Elin Pelin and the village of Gara Elin Pelin, Western Bulgaria, burst into flames this evening, July 25.

Police, fire fighting and emergency medical teams were immediately dispatched to the scene.

Three warehouses for fireworks near Elin Pelin are burning, there are injured people

One of the warehouses near Elin Pelin contained pyrotechnics with about 2 tonnes of TNT equivalent. There is no data yet on the quantity of the finished product of fireworks themselves.

The alert for rumbling and a fire in a warehouse of a company producing fireworks and other pyrotechnics located between Elin Pelin and the village of Gara Elin Pelin was sent at around 6.30 pm. Police, fire fighters and ambulance teams were immediately dispatched to the scene.

There are no buildings near the warehouses with fireworks, said the mayor of Elin Pelin Ivaylo Simeonov. Residents should be calm as it is not a warehouse with ammunition, the mayor assured.

A partial state of emergency has been declared in Elin Pelin and evacuation of people from the village of Gara Elin Pelin has begun. Traffic is restricted in the area.

The emergency teams of Sofia Municipality are on the spot near the exploded fireworks warehouses. Within hours, a mobile laboratory will be deployed in the area to measure the levels of harmful substances in the air.

The injured

A man and a woman were injured in the fire at the fireworks warehouse.“Pirogov” emergency hospital in Sofia confirmed that both were admitted to the hospital's shock room. She has 85% burns, the man has 35% burns. Caretaker Minister of Interior, Kalin Stoyanov, said that they were father and daughter.

"Pirogov” hopsital and other medical facilities are on standby to receive more injured after the fireworks warehouse explosion near Elin Pelin.

The response of the authorities

The BG Alert early warning system sent two evacuation messages to the residents of the village of Gara Elin Pelin. The message was sent by the General Directorate for Fire Safety and Population Protection.

Caretaker Prime Minister, Dimitar Glavchev; caretaker Minister of Interior, Kalin Stoyanov and Ministry of Interior Secretary General, Dimitar Kangaldzhiev arrived at the scene of the explosions.

Everything is under control, there is no need to panic, caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said. In his words, the need for evacuation is assessed on the spot, but it is better to take more measures than necessary. He added that an army armoured vehicle was expected to go inside the fire.

Minister Kalin Stoyanov said that two people are probably still in the burning fireworks warehouses.

"We are talking about pyrotechnics, there were people on shift in the warehouses - the two that the firefighters managed to get out and are in hospital, plus possibly two more, one security guard who went into the warehouse and started getting people out, but he is in shock at the moment," explained Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov.

Commenting on the situation earlier in the evening, caretaker Minister of Interior said that the situation is difficult. The explosions and fire have engulfed six warehouses full of fireworks. The firefighters managed to get out two workers who had third-degree burns and have been hospitalised. There is also unconfirmed information that there are two more people somewhere in the warehouses. However, it is yet unclear if there is one or two persons inside, as the communication with the owner and the people who work there is difficult and there is no information on their exact whereabouts, Stoyanov explained.

According to unconfirmed information, one of the people trapped inside believed to be the son of the warehouses owner.

Workers familiar with the layout of the warehouses are helping the firefighters, the Minister confirmed.

Elin Pelin residents to breathe through towels and close their windows, health authorities advise.

Calm must be maintained first, former fire fighting service chief Nikolai Nikolov urged.

There were explosives in the warehouses to make the fireworks, an inspection was carried out three months ago and no irregularities were found in the warehouses, said the director of the General Directorate of National Police, Chief Commissioner Atanas Ilkov. He added that he had contact with the owner, who said that the warehouses had top-of-the-range equipment in terms of CCTV and fire-fighting systems, which Ilkov said could help establish the causes of the fire.

The company owner of the warehouses

We have no idea what caused the fire at the fireworks warehouse, Emil Yordanov of the company that owns the warehouse, Enigma Ltd, told BTA. So far, the company has not had any incidents of this nature in the past, Yordanov added.

The investigation into the explosions near Elin Pelin

The National Investigation Service will take over the investigation into the blasts near Elin Pelin, the Prosecutor's office said. A team of investigators is on standby to take part in the inspections once the blasts and the fire have been stopped.

Interviews of witnesses and others are expected to begin this evening and all possible hypotheses about the cause of the incident will be worked on, the Prosecutor's office said.

Impact on transport

There were no disruptions in the flight schedule to and from Sofia Airport, the airport said. The railway line towards Sofia is closed in the area.