One day after the day of national mourning, declared on Friday because of the tragic accident at the munitions factory in Gorni Lom, Northwestern Bulgaria which killed 15 workers, people in the country have been asking a lot of disturbing questions but getting no answers. 

This is no less than the 6th such explosion since 2008. In July and August 2008 two blasts took place at a military storage facility, one in Chelopechene near Sofia and the other in Kazanluk. Fortunately there were no casualties but the blasts inflicted major material damage. In June 2012 a series of explosions and the ensuing fire killed three and wounded dozens at a privately-owned arms disposal depot near Petoluchkata road junction in Southern Bulgaria. Again in Kazanluk, at the Arsenal military factory, blasts shook the town in September 2012, luckily no one was hurt. And again at an Arsenal factory, this time near Muglizh, an explosion killed one worker. No more than a month ago in Kostenets near Sofia, at a TEREM plant a series of blasts wounded ten – five men and fine women. 

This fatal series of accidents only goes to show that there is a systemic problem in Bulgaria. The chronic explosions at military facilities, with traditions going back dozens of years show there is no regard for technological requirements and control in high-risk spheres is poor. For the blasts in Chelopechene, charges were brought against three generals, but only six years after the accident. Now in the village of Gorni Lom it turns out that dangerous explosives had been dismantled by a private company that had had its license retracted by the Interior Ministry twice – in 2007 and in 2010. But after being appealed in court, it was reinstated.

The series of fatalities once again raises the question: wouldn’t it be more advisable to stop private companies from gaining access to high-risk activities, connected with explosives and to commission them only to subsidiaries and specialized Ministry of Defence structures because it seems outside them, the required expert knowledge and discipline is nowhere to be found. A draft to this effect was submitted to the 41^st National Assembly but was rejected. Society is in its rights to be asking questions such as this because the latest tragedy in Gorni Lom could have taken more than the 15 lives lost, it could have annihilated an entire village.

English version: Milena Daynova