Vlasim, Central Bohemia, Sept 21 (CTK) – Gunpowder exploded Monday afternoon in the Czech Sellier&Bellot ammunition firm in Vlasim, but the information that at least one person died has not been confirmed, police spokeswoman Eva Stulikova has told CTK.
Stulikova said three people had gone missing.
Bomb-disposal experts, two professional and three voluntary firefighting units, two helicopters and rescuers have come to the place. A guided evacuation was not necessary as the personnel left the plant in their own right.
A 200-metre protection zone was immediately created around the place of the explosion to which entry is barred.
Czech mining authority spokesman Bohuslav Machek has told CTK that the explosion had occurred when one employee was carrying an explosive from the place of manufacturing to a store.
Sellier&Bellot has confirmed that three employees were missing.
It said the explosion had occurred in the depot of the material for the production of detonators.
The explosive was trinitroresorcinate, a semi-product serving for further processing of the gunpowder, Machek said.
The entry to the plant is being guarded by two police, while a crowd gathered around it.
“One could hear two successive blows there,” a young woman who was near the detonation at the critical time has told CTK.
Vlasim Mayor Ludek Jenista said the locals had no reason to be afraid.
Sellier&Bellot is one of the most important producers of small-bore ammunition that is has made since 1825. Since 2009, the firm has been owned by Brazilian company CBC – Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos S.A. (CBC).
Every day, two million cartridges leave the firm. Two thirds of them are destined for the civilian market, that is shooting ranges and huntsmen, the rest goes to armed forced. The firm now employs 1400 people.
It exports its products to 80 countries. Forty percent goes to Europe, 30 percent to North America and the rest to other world markets, including Africa.
