Explosion and fire at EMKO arms depot near Tsareva Livada

An explosion early this morning ignited a large fire at an arms depot near the village of Tsareva Livada in central Bulgaria, authorities say. Flames quickly spread from one storage building to others inside the military-industrial complex, prompting an emergency response by firefighters and security services.

Initial information indicates the site is a weapons warehouse connected to the company EMKO. Officials reported that, so far, there are no confirmed injuries among personnel or residents in the vicinity.

Access restricted as risk of further detonations remains

Because of the danger of additional explosions, access to the area has been blocked while emergency teams work to contain the blaze. Firefighters and security units are prioritizing cooling nearby stockpiles and preventing the fire from spreading to adjacent facilities.

This is the second incident in recent weeks involving a facility linked to EMKO, a development that has again raised questions about the safety of weapons storage in Bulgaria. In previous years, the Bulgarian prosecutor's office accused Russian operatives of carrying out attacks on some of the company's warehouses; investigations then found that munitions stored at those sites had been intended for Ukraine and Georgia.

Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether the latest explosion is connected to those earlier cases or whether it resulted from another cause. The situation remains fluid and investigators have begun work on-scene to determine the origin of the blast.

Note: the photograph circulating with early reports was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

Photo: press material from the event