Fire put out at central Serbia arms plant

There were several explosions during the night at the arms-manufacturing section of the Sloboda factory in Cacak, but the fire at the grounds has been put out. MUP Emergency Situations Sector chief Predrag Maric confirmed that the last strong blast was heard at around 05:30 CET. Fire put out at central Serbia arms plant Maric also said that it was impossible to predict for how long the detonations at the facility that was destroyed in explosions and flames yesterday afternoon would last. There were no casualties in the accident. The company's General Manager Zoran Stefanovic was quoted as saying that the fire caused great material damage, and that when it broke out, 60 workers were in the factory, but they managed to escape. Beta news agency reported Stefanovic as saying that the 2,000-square-meter facility was completely burnt down. The damage exceeds EUR 10mn, said Stefanovic, adding that the cause of the accident at the artillery ammunition storage facility was likely a fire that broke out on the 30mm bullet tracers, which then triggered a series of explosions. The factory will remain closed for the time being, while the Ministry of Defense said it would try to meet foreign buyers' emergency orders from its reserves. The arms production at the company was set to end this year with USD 35mn in exports. The state is promising to subsidize purchase of new equipment in January. Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac, who traveled to Cacak last night, said he expected the factory to be rebuilt with the help of insurance money, and also funds set aside by the local administration. In Belgrade, opposition NS leader Velimir Ilic accused Sutanovac and his ruling Democrats (DS) of being guilty for the accident, because they appointed people loyal to the party to head the company. Ilic, a former mayor of Cacak, said that this happened although Sutanovac was warned against "toying with the military industry and sacking experts in Cacak". DS officials dismissed these accusations and said Ilic was using the accident for "daily political purposes". The entrance to the factory grounds (FoNet)

Fire put out at central Serbia arms plant

Marić also said that it was impossible to predict for how long the detonations at the facility that was destroyed in explosions and flames yesterday afternoon would last.

There were no casualties in the accident.

The company's General Manager Zoran Stefanović was quoted as saying that the fire caused great material damage, and that when it broke out, 60 workers were in the factory, but they managed to escape.

Beta news agency reported Stefanović as saying that the 2,000-square-meter facility was completely burnt down.

The damage exceeds EUR 10mn, said Stefanović, adding that the cause of the accident at the artillery ammunition storage facility was likely a fire that broke out on the 30mm bullet tracers, which then triggered a series of explosions.

The factory will remain closed for the time being, while the Ministry of Defense said it would try to meet foreign buyers' emergency orders from its reserves.

The arms production at the company was set to end this year with USD 35mn in exports. The state is promising to subsidize purchase of new equipment in January.

Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac, who traveled to Čačak last night, said he expected the factory to be rebuilt with the help of insurance money, and also funds set aside by the local administration.

In Belgrade, opposition NS leader Velimir Ilić accused Šutanovac and his ruling Democrats (DS) of being guilty for the accident, because they appointed people loyal to the party to head the company. Ilić, a former mayor of Čačak, said that this happened although Šutanovac was warned against "toying with the military industry and sacking experts in Čačak".

DS officials dismissed these accusations and said Ilić was using the accident for "daily political purposes".