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

Three warehouses for fireworks between the town of Elin Pelin, Western Bulgaria, and the station of the town are on fire on July 25. Two people, a man and a woman, were seriously injured.

The Minister of Interior, Kalin Stoyanov, and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior - Chief Commissioner Dimitar Kangaldzhiev travelled to the scene of the incident.

"Three warehouses are burning. We pulled out two injured - one man and one woman who were seriousAly injured. According to unconfirmed information, there are more employees of the company who were injured," said Ministry of Interior, Secretary General, Commissioner Dimitar Kangaldzhiev, who arrived at the scene.

According to preliminary information, there are more people injured. A request for more ambulances has been sent.

The medical emergency service told BNT that a signal was sent to them at about 18:35. Four people were reported injured.

However, it is not clear whether this is the case - ambulances were immediately sent to the scene, but they are not currently allowed on the ground because, according to fire crews, it is not safe.

The mayor of the municipality Ivaylo Simeonov told BNT that there is no danger for the residents of Elin Pelin. He also said that the information about the number of the injured people could not be confirmed as the fire had not yet been localised.

Nikolay Nikolov, adviser to the Minister of the Interior, stressed that the first measures have been taken - the population has been warned, the perimeter is limited, teams are travelling to measure air pollution.

The area at entrance and exit of Elin Pelin in the direction of the railway station is cordoned off, according to eyewitnesses.

Rumblings were also heard in Dolni Bogrov, BNT journalist Vasilena Vassileva reported. The smoke from the fire is clearly visible from the settlement.

Eyewitnesses say that the rumblings lasted for quite a long time.

Police evacuated people near Elin Pelin, traffic is cut off. No fireworks were produced in the warehouses, only stored. Thick smoke is billowing over the whole Sofia field. There is no problem with flights from Sofia Airport.

The BG-Alert early warning system was activated nearly an hour after the incident with the burning warehouses near Elin Pelin. The message said evacuations were required because of the blast.

Sylvia Arnautska - Sofia District Governor explained that people in Elin Pelin are worried, although there is no evacuation order.

Around 7.40 p.m., a warehouse of a large food chain near Elin Pelin also caught fire. There is no information on whether the fire is related to the three fireworks warehouses burning near the settlement.

On the orders of Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, four investigators from the National Investigation Service and an investigator from the Sofia District Investigation Service took over the investigation of the exploded warehouses near Elin Pelin. The inspections will begin after the explosions and the fire they caused have been extinguished.