2024-07-26 12:48:15
- Father and daughter were injured, their injuries are incompatible with life
- The owner’s son is missing, they assume he is in the warehouse
A fiery inferno that lasted for hours terrified the residents of Elin Pelin and the surrounding area. Explosions at a fireworks warehouse between the town of Elin Pelin and the Elin Pelin Train Station rang out at 6:25 p.m., alerting authorities and forcing the evacuation of the village.
The explosion
The first signal was received in Emergency at 18:35. From there they sent two ambulances, and later three more. The initial information is about two victims with severe and life-threatening burns. These are a 40-year-old man and a young woman who were taken to “Pirogov”.
Around 7:15 p.m., the fire in the warehouses of the Enigma company spread and powerful explosions followed. Debris is flying about 2 kilometers away, people from Elin Pelin told “24 Chasa”.
How did the authorities react?
Acting Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov and Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Dimitar Kangaljiev informed that they were traveling to the scene of the accident shortly after the explosion was reported.
At 7:30 p.m., just over an hour after the blast, the BG-ALERT early warning system was activated, alerting residents in the vicinity of a warehouse fire.
Glavchev, Stoyanov and Kangaldzhiev arrived in Elin Pelin shortly after 8 p.m. The interior minister explained that there were probably two people in the warehouses, and the prime minister assured that an armored army jeep was traveling to Elin Pelin to enter the warehouses and search for people.
A food warehouse about 500 meters from the burning buildings caught fire from flying debris. 20 minutes later, BG-ALERT was activated again, this time the message was for the immediate evacuation of residents of the village of Elin Pelin Station.
The caretaker prime minister and the interior minister gave a second briefing around 9 p.m. Glavchev explained that there are still people in the warehouses, but even the owners cannot say exactly how many there are. There are believed to be two or three of them. An immediate evacuation of the people of the village was ordered, although some of them refused to leave. Kalin Stoyanov said that police teams are going around the village to get people out of their houses.
The Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Dimitar Kangaljiev said that in one of the burning buildings there was an explosion with 2 tons of TNT equivalent.
The owner of the exploded warehouses commented to BNT that he has no idea what could have caused the explosions. He explained that a representative of the company was traveling there. It later became clear that his 22-year-old son was also in one of the warehouses and is currently missing.
A large perimeter has been cordoned off around the burning pyrotechnic warehouses near Elin Pelin.
“I have no information. We are looking for colleagues whose whereabouts we do not know,” said Emil Yordanov, an employee at the pyrotechnics company. According to him, three of his colleagues are missing.
Locals have equipped themselves and are ready to help put out the fire, but at the moment extinguishing activities are not possible due to the continuing thunder.
The residents of Elin Pelin station do not want to evacuate their homes, despite calls from the authorities. They want to help and have gathered in work clothes and shovels, waiting to be called.
However, Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov stated that until everything is burned and the explosions stop, the warehouses will not be entered.
Latest data on the victims
Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov explained at a briefing shortly after 10 p.m. that the owner is already there. He is upset because his son is most likely inside. The only people who could give the most up-to-date information were the security guard, who was clueless about what happened and gave different information. The other person is the one in “Pirogov”, who is in a very serious and life-threatening condition. A father and daughter are in the hospital. The father is in a very serious, life-threatening condition – he is being intubated, and the girl has 85% burns, which, according to the medics, is incompatible with life, Stoyanov also said.
It all happened after hours. The security guard is there 24/7, but there were people who were there because they came to pick up pyrotechnics that they needed for an event tomorrow. That’s when everything happens, the interior minister added.
They probably moved the equipment from the hallways to the warehouses in the offices and that’s where it all happened. No one can give exact information on how many people were inside.
An organization was made for the evacuated people. The police went through all the houses and brought them out.
