Warehouses with fireworks exploded near Elin Pelin, police and army are involved in the evacuation of people and extinguishing

Warehouses of fireworks caught fire between Elin Pelin and the village of Elin Pelin Station just after 18:20 today. Several people were injured, and a woman suffered severe burns. The logistics base of the Fantastico chain, which is also located in the region, also burned down.

The residents of the town of Elin Pelin were called for immediate evacuation through the BgAlert system. Currently, a partial state of emergency has been declared in the municipality.

The situation is serious, it is about a company that deals with pyrotechnic products. There are six warehouses that are full of such products. This was said by the Minister of the Interior, Kalin Stoyanov, at a place in Elin Pelin, where earlier today a fire broke out in warehouses for pyrotechnic products and explosions followed.

Two people are in serious condition, they were taken out of the warehouses by the firefighters. We have information on two other people who may be inside. One or two are specified, communication between owners and workers is complicated, and it is not known who has been where.

About 500 meters from the explosions, a fragment fell on a warehouse of a large food chain, which is currently burning, added Stoyanov.

According to preliminary data, one of the warehouses in which a fire broke out between Elin Pelin and Elin Pelin Station contained two tons of TNT equivalent. This is what Dimitar Kangaldzhiev, the chief secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, told journalists. However, he did not commit to the total amount of finished products of fireworks that exploded, adds BTA.

There were people on shift at that time in the warehouses, two were taken out, two more are missing, there is also a security guard who is in shock. He helped until the end, said Stoyanov. The man is with us now.

If these warehouses are really full, I imagine they will be booming for a long time to come. There were colleagues who got as close as possible to pull out the injured, added the minister.

We have no idea what caused the fire in the fireworks warehouse, Emil Yordanov from the company-owner of the warehouse "Enigma" OOD told BTA.

So far, the company has had no such incidents, Yordanov added. According to him, the company has no idea how many were injured.

Everything is under control, there is no need to panic, said acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, who came to the scene of the fire in the fireworks warehouses between Elin Pelin and Elin Pelin Station. According to him, the need for evacuation is assessed on the spot, but it is better to take more measures than necessary.

Glavchev added that an army armored jeep is expected, which can penetrate deeper into the fire.

There are enough ambulances, the Minister of Health has been spoken to. 4 or 5 are the injured, it is not possible to go inside to find out. The toxicology clinics and emergency departments in the Medical Academy and in "Pirogov" are on standby.

Hot warehouses are equipped with the best high-tech equipment. With this video surveillance, I hope we can establish the causes of the fire. At this stage, it is believed that there are fireworks substances in the warehouses. During an inspection three months ago, no violations were found, said Atanas Ilkov from the DG "National Police".

The Ministry of the Environment is also monitoring the situation.

"We immediately sent specialized cars - mobile laboratories to measure air pollution," said Reneta Koleva, Deputy Minister of Environment and Water.

There is still no data on whether and how much the air is polluted in the area. "As a prevention, I advise people to first close their windows, and then people with breathing problems should be taken out of the place of fumigation," Koleva added.

Train traffic in the Elin Pelin area has also been suspended. Trains to Plovdiv run on the Sub-Balkan line, stated BDZ, quoted by the national radio.