An explosion and fires have hit an ammunition storage site in central Bulgaria, police said Saturday, weeks after a blaze at another munitions facility in the country. The latest incident happened late Friday at the warehouse operated by Bulgarian arms maker EMCO, whose munitions are used in Ukraine, near the central village of Gorni Varpishta. No casualties were reported, and the extent of damage was not immediately clear. "At present there is no danger to the population," local police said in a statement, adding that employees had been evacuated and the area cordoned off. The nearest village is more than one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the site, AFP reported. The incident came about a month after a fire at an ammunition depot at another nearby EMCO plant in Bulgaria, a NATO member and supporter of Ukraine. EMCO ruled out human error in that case, and prosecutors are investigating. EMCO is owned by Bulgarian defense executive Emilian Gebrev, who survived a poisoning attempt in 2015 together with his son and another company executive. Bulgarian prosecutors have charged three Russian nationals over the poisoning. Separately, six Russians have also been charged with terrorism over four explosions at arms facilities in the country between 2011 and 2020. Prosecutors said the four blasts were remotely triggered and suspected the incidents were linked to efforts to disrupt arms supplies to Georgia and Ukraine. Bulgaria has supported Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. There have been a string of incidents at defense companies in European countries that support Ukraine in recent weeks. Firebombs were thrown near defense company offices in the German city of Munich earlier this month and an ammunition factory near Rome operated by arms maker KNDS was hit by a blast in August. No injuries were reported in either case.
