JUNE 9, 2015
SOFIA, BULGARIA
Two U.S. government defense contractors who were injured in
a blast at a shooting range in Bulgaria have been moved to a U.S. military
hospital in Germany, an official said.
Another American contractor was killed and two Bulgarians
injured when a rocket-propelled grenade malfunctioned during experimental
shootings at the military range at the central village of Anevo on Saturday,
officials said.
Bulgarian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the
incident but authorities have so far declined to comment on what caused it or
what the Americans were doing there.
One of the U.S. Department of Defense contractors, aged 38,
suffered serious leg, hand and rib injuries and was in a stable condition after
three operations, said a spokeswoman for the Bulgarian hospital where the
injured were initially taken.
Another 46-year old man had less serious leg injuries, said
the press officer from the hospital in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.
"The two U.S. citizens were transported late on Monday
to a U.S. military hospital near the Germany city of Ramstein," she said,
adding that a Bulgarian translator and instructor were in a stable condition
and staying in Plovdiv.
Bulgaria's economy ministry has said the shooting range was
hired by Bulgarian private arms company Alguns for training and the company
also owned the grenade, produced in 1984 by a Bulgarian military plant.
Local media speculated that Alguns was trying to sell the
grenades - though the ministry said the company had not asked it to issue any
export licenses.
No one was immediately available for comment from Alguns or
the U.S. embassy in Bulgaria.
Source: http://www.reuters.com