Specially Equipped Team to Enter Site of Explosion in NW Bulgaria

A specially equipped team of Bulgaria's Ministry of Interior is to enter the site of the explosion near the village of Gorni Lom.

A powerful blast at a privately-owned explosives plant near the northwestern village of Gorni Lom at around 5 pm on Wednesday left 3 injured, with 15 people feared dead.

15 people are missing feared dead after the blast, although the exact number of people who were at the factory at the time of the accident has not been officially confirmed.

Photographs of the site of the blast have been made via a drone.

A close inspection of the site through a special armored vehicle is to start soon, following the decision of a team of experts to sidestep initial plans to wait for 24 hours after the last secondary explosion at the site, registered after 9 pm on Wednesday, before conducting an examination.

The two buildings of the explosives factory have been razed to the ground after the massive explosion, as the photographs show.

Caretaker Labor Minister Yordan Hristoskov announced Thursday that the factory had been functioning despite numerous breaches of safety rules.

Hristoskov vowed that the plant would be closed.