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One killed in gunpowder explosion in Czech ammunition firm

Xinhua, September 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Gunpowder exploded in Czech ammunition manufacturer Sellier&Bellot in Vlasim on Monday afternoon, at least one person was dead on the spot, but victims may be more, Central Bohemia firefighters' spokesman Ladislav Holomcik said.

The company Sellier&Bellot said in a statement that three workers had gone missing during the explosion that occurred in a material storage.

Holomcik said it was "an explosion of gunpowder, no fire followed."

The bomb-disposal squad and officers of the Czech Mining Office have come to the place and began to investigate the case.

Mining Office spokesman Bohuslav Machek said the explosion occurred when one of the employees was carrying an explosive from the place of manufacturing to a storage facility. The explosives was trinitroresorcinate, which is a semi-product that is used for further processing of gunpowder.

There are also several units of firefighters, two helicopters and rescuers on site.

Mayor of Vlasim Ludek Jenista said the local people need not to worry about it, noting there are measures to prevent major damage.

According to him, a few similar incidents had happened in the company in the past, but operations have changed dramatically since then. However, Jenista said that the risk of work accidents can not be totally ruled out ever.

He said the cause of this incident was apparently human error, but the investigation would bring up a specific conclusions that could lead to the introduction of other measures.

Sellier&Bellot is one of the leading manufacturers of small-bore ammunition, which produced since 1825. Since 2009, the firm has been owned by Brazilian company CBC - Companhia Brasileira de cartuchos S.A. (CBC). It has 1,400 employees at present. Every day, two million cartridges of ammunition leaves the firm. Two-thirds of them goes to the civilian market, ie to shooting ranges and huntsmen, the rest of the ammunition goes to armed forces.

Sellier&Bellot exports goods to 80 countries. Forty percent of its production is sold in Europe, 30 percent in North America and the rest to other world markets such as Africa. Endit