Fire, Explosions in Ammunition Depot in Czech Republic

A police ammunition depot in the Czech Republic caught fire in the northern Bohemian town of Bilina, triggering a series of explosions, but no one was injured, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.

Around 150 workers in an adjacent industrial park within a radius of 500 metres of the explosion were brought to safety.

For safety reasons, the fire brigade could only start extinguishing the fire after about an hour.

Discarded ammunition from the police was reportedly housed in the warehouse.

The blast could be heard at a distance of 15 kilometres, eyewitnesses reported to local media.

The cause of the accident was initially unknown.

Bilina has around 17,000 inhabitants and is not far from the German border.