Bulgaria is investigating a fire at an ammunition storage facility operated by arms maker EMCO, including the possibility of sabotage and a link to a previous incident at another of the company's sites, the interior minister said on September 12.

The fire broke out late on September 11 near the village of Gorni Varpishta in the Dryanovo region of central Bulgaria. No injuries were reported and the fire was brought under control, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told reporters.

"We are not ruling out outside interference," Demerdzhiev said, adding that investigators would examine previous fires at EMCO and other defence companies for possible links or a similar pattern.

He also said authorities had identified shortcomings in the storage of explosives and ammunition and in the security of the facilities.

"We see a lot of shortcomings, not only in this enterprise," Demerdzhiev said. "We will inspect every single warehouse in the country."

EMCO said the facility had been inspected seven times by Interior Ministry authorities since the start of the year, most recently about 20 days before the incident, with no violations recorded.

The company said more than 10 similar incidents had occurred at Bulgarian defence companies since 2011 and accused the authorities of failing to complete investigations into them.

The latest fire comes about a month after an explosion and fire at another EMCO ammunition depot near Belitsa in north-central Bulgaria.

EMCO is owned by Bulgarian arms trader Emilian Gebrev, whose facilities have previously been linked by Bulgarian prosecutors to alleged Russian sabotage operations.

In 2024, Bulgarian prosecutors issued arrest warrants for six Russian nationals accused of involvement in explosions at EMCO ammunition depots between 2011 and 2020. The depots stored munitions destined for export to Ukraine and Georgia.

Prosecutors said at the time they suspected links between the explosions, an alleged attempt to poison Gebrev in 2015 and explosions at ammunition depots in the Czech Republic in 2014. Moscow has rejected the allegations.

Pro-Western opposition parties have linked the incidents to alleged Russian sabotage in Europe and called for a national security meeting.

President Iliana Iotova said on September 13 she would decide within the next few days whether to convene the Consultative Council for National Security following the recent incidents, BTA reported.