Bulgaria to tighten security at strategic sites after ammunition depot blasts

Bulgaria plans to tighten security measures at strategic and potentially hazardous sites, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said Sunday.

Speaking to Bulgarian National Radio, Demerdzhiev said a meeting with Prime Minister Rumen Radev is scheduled for next week to discuss and formulate specific measures.

His remarks came after explosions at two ammunition depots in Bulgaria, with authorities investigating the incidents and examining possible links between them.

Demerdzhiev said investigators were pursuing all possible lines of inquiry and comparing the two incidents reported in the Gabrovo region over the past month.

He said authorities would introduce a series of measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Referring to similar incidents in Bulgaria in recent years, Demerdzhiev said other countries had also faced difficulties in resolving such cases.

He added that expert findings and evidence gathered so far in the Petrohan case, in which six people were killed, were expected to be made public Monday.

Two investigations are underway in the case, one examining the deaths and another focusing on financial matters, including payments made into the accounts of the association involved, according to Demerdzhiev.