Munitions Factory Explosion Kills Two, Injures 16 in Serbia

Firefighters were called to the scene around 8 miles (13km) south of Belgrade. The blast happened at around 14:00 local time in a storage area of the factory, Serbia’s interior ministry said. The ministry said that preliminary reports indicated the explosion originated in a part of the factory where 500 rockets were being stored, each containing around 30kg of explosives.

After a fire had been extinguished, police and firefighters searched the area looking for injured people and used drones to scan the smouldering scene. Five people were recovered from the rubble of the factory, firefighters said.

In total, 16 people were injured out of the 40 people who were inside the factory when the initial explosion occurred. All the injured were taken to hospital for treatment.

The EDePro factory suffered a similar explosion in 2008. Three people were injured in that incident.