By an order of Chief of the Bulgarian General Staff Gen. Zlatan Stoikov on Saturday head of the army unit at Chelopechene Major Miroslav Mitov is suspended from office until the causes for the Thursday explosions in the arms disposal depot storing surplus ammunition there have been identified, the Defense Ministry said in a press release.

A series of powerful explosions rocked the arms disposal depot storing tonnes of obsolete munitions outside Sofia in the early morning on Thursday, injuring a few people, shaking apartment blocks and panicking thousands. About three hundred people from nearby villages were temporarily evacuated. The Sofia Airport remained closed throughout the day. Luckily, the incident claimed no lives, BTA informed.

The Military Prosecution Magistracy is checking the Chelopechene army unit for wrongdoing in the sale of cartridge cases.

Eleven explosions of medium intensity were registered between 10.30 and 11.00 p.m. on Saturday in the Chelopechene army unit, the Defense Ministry press center said.

The crisis task force has made a decision to provide safe access of engineering units in the region of the depot. This will gappen after the surface layer of the soil will be cooled with water from air plains. Field engineering units, chemists, a reanimobile, the Military Police and the Military Prosecution are expected to enter the territory of the unit on Monday.

On Saturday Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev inspected the site of the accident on board a helicopter overflying the area. Commenting the accident, he said that a main problem seems to the way the public was informed in the first 30-40 minutes after the explosions. Stanishev said the lack of adequate information caused panic among the people. Stanishev has asked Emergency Situations Minister Emel Etem to come up with a different formula for informing the public in case of such accidents. The Prime Minister was categorical that the actions of the institutions were adequate.

The local powers have organized inspections of each damaged house in Chepintsi and Chelopechene. Commissions are assessing the damage, mostly broken windows, casings and walls, so as to provide the necessary assistance to the owners.

Five modular groups of the Bulgarian Arny, comprising 53 servicemen and 12 units of equipment, continue work on liquidating the consequences of the blasts in the area, the Defense Ministry said in a press release.

The situation on the scene of the accident is normal, acting director of the Nationakl Police Service Krassmir Petrov said.

There is no pollution in the air in Sofia and in Chelopechene, as proven in the findings of the round-the-clock measurements carried out by the Environment Executive Agency, the Environment and Waters Ministry said in a press release.

Commenting the accident, Transport Minister Peter Moutafchiev said he is pleased with the quick reaction and coordination of the airport authorities.

Asked by a reporter to comment who will cover the damages from the closure of the Sofia Airport on the day of the accident, Moutafchiev said that in such accidents airline companies are
not obliged to provide compensations to passengers, nor are airports to air lines.

National Assembly Chairman Georgi Pirinski told reporters in Veliko Turnovo, Northern Bulgaria, that "the vital working systems of the state were activated by the accident" but that in the critical time after the initial explosions there was a marked lack in coordination between the institutions and also absence of information to the public. Pirinski said the Response to Disasters and Accidents Act apparently needs to be revised yet again.

Photo: BGNES