Fifteen people died in a blast at a Bulgarian explosives decommissioning plant, officials confirmed Thursday, as workers complained of low pay and poor safety at the facility, which has seen several incidents in recent years. "Thirteen men and two women perished. The blast was so powerful that it left craters," civil defence force director Nikolay Nikolov said.
At least 800,000 landmines were on site at the time according to the state prosecutor, who has launched an investigation into the accident. Three female workers were also injured in the explosion, which rocked the mountainous area around the village of Gorni Lom in north-western Bulgaria Wednesday evening, residents told state television. The women were taken to hospital and were not in critical condition. Nikolov said "human error" was the most probable cause of the blast, which razed several buildings at the small plant.
The devastation was so complete that "no traces whatsoever of bodies could be seen" at the site, he added, noting that police forensic workers were continuing to search the area. According to the plant's management, 12 workers and three of the factory chiefs were inside the facility at the time of the blast, which happened as Greek landmines were being taken apart.
Local resident Dimitar Dimitrov, 59, told AFP: "I used to work there and I sneaked inside the area long before the engineers arrived. Everything was razed to the ground." Among the locals, many of whom lost friends and relatives, the disaster did not come as a surprise.
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