Policka, East Bohemia, Feb 27 (CTK) – Bomb disposal experts are moving away ammunition from a hall in the Policske strojirny machinery plant in which a series of detonations injured 19 people on Thursday, police spokeswoman Hana Kaizarova told journalists yesterday.
“I can confirm that the administrative building was endorsed by bomb disposal experts and all the administrative staff have returned to work,” he added.
“The assembly section and dispatch rooms, the cafeteria and all roads within
On Sunday afternoon, the police passed the plant back to its owner.
The company is resuming production in the plant and the employees have started returning to it, company director Petr Nemec said.
The company premises have been freed,” Nemec said.
Now a detective along with a bomb disposal expert are examining the scene of the accident and the dangerous zone perimeter has been narrowed to the destroyed hall and the surrounding premises, Kaizarova said.
“The firm was given the instructions where its staff can move. We have sealed off the area and the police will watch it day and night,” Kaizarova said.
On Sunday, bomb disposal experts destroyed the ammunition from the adjacent, damaged hall by four blasts.
The plant owner will dispose of the rest of the damaged ammunition.
The police are investigating the blast as public menace out of negligence causing damage of over five million crowns.
The blast was caused by TNT. Its explosion then moved on to other stored material, which caused a series of blasts.
The company Policske strojirny said the incident had occurred at the explosives press.
On Thursday, 16 people were driven to hospitals in the Pardubice Region. Most of them have already been released. Three suffered serious burns and are being treated in the burns centres in Prague and Brno,
The company discontinued its production and its staff was at home, being paid the full wages.
The examination of the exploded hall may take several days, Kaizarova said.
Originally an arms maker, Policske strojirny now mainly manufactures pneumatic products.
($1 = 25.468 crowns)
pv/dr/hol
