Fire follows explosion at weapons storage site in central Bulgaria
A fire caused by an overnight explosion at a weapons storage site near Tsareva Livada was the second blaze at a munitions facility in recent weeks.
Tsareva Livada, Bulgaria. An explosion caused a fire at a weapons storage site in central Bulgaria overnight, officials and local media said on Saturday. No injuries were reported.
Fire spreads between warehouses
The blaze broke out near the village of Tsareva Livada and illuminated the night sky, according to videos broadcast by local media.
“At the moment, the fire is on the territory of the storage base of the factory. It is moving from warehouse to warehouse,” Gabrovo regional governor Kristina Sidorova told journalists in the early hours of Saturday.
EMCO link reported
Local media, citing an EMCO company official, reported that the fire occurred at a site operated by EMCO. Reuters was not immediately able to reach the company for comment.
EMCO experienced an explosion at another facility last month. The company is run by Bulgarian arms trader Emilian Gebrev, whom Bulgarian prosecutors allege was targeted in past attacks on his facilities by Russian operatives.
Previous investigations
In 2024, Bulgaria issued arrest warrants for six Russian citizens accused of involvement in the destruction of EMCO arms depots that stored munitions for export to Ukraine and Georgia between 2011 and 2020.
Prosecutors said at the time that they could reasonably assume links between the blasts in Bulgaria, the attempted poisoning of Gebrev in 2015 and explosions at munitions depots in the Czech Republic in 2014.
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