Bulgaria: Drone with a suspected Bomb was discovered near Tyulenovo
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Image: Bulgarian Defence Ministry
A drone of unknown origin and, according to unconfirmed information, with an explosive device, was found on the coast of Tyulenovo. It was found by chance late last night.
It is not clear how the drone ended up on the Bulgarian shore – whether it fell from the air or was washed away by the current. There is also no information about the ownership of the drone. A signal was sent to 112 emergency number. The area is cordoned off.
The man who filed the report and took the photos of the drone, Radoslav Rusev, explained to the National Television that almost 12 hours later there is no investigation of the case.
The mayor of the municipality of Shabla Marijan Zhechev explained that the arrival of a team from the Ministry of Defense is awaited.
“At around 9:30 pm last night, I received a call that there was a similar object washed up by the waves. As of 10:10 p.m. last night the area has been cordoned off. The action at this time is an order to cordon off the area to protect the lives and health of the people who live in the area until the arrival of the authorities of the Ministry of Defence,” stated Zhechev.
The drone is located right next to the village marina.
“Fortunately there is a lot of wind at the moment and not a single boat has gone out to sea yet,” said local resident Georgi Todorov, one of the first to see the drone this morning.
Defence Minister Tagarev: We Have Photos, Debris of Tyulenovo’s Drone, Will Use Them to Analyze Its Origin
The team on the ground decided not to take the risk of separating the ammunition from the flying part and blew up the entire drone found on the rocks at the boat mooring in Tyulenovo village (on the Black Sea), Defence Minister Todor Tagarev said during his hearing before the parliamentary Defence Committee on Monday. “We do not have the drone, but we have photos and debris. We will try to analyze its origin through those,” he explained.
Tagarev stated that it can hardly be said with complete certainty where the drone came from.
The Bulgarian Armed Forces maintain response teams for unexploded ammunitions alerts, and in off-hours these teams must be able to be mobilized within four hours. That is what happened in this case. There was no danger to citizens or the environment,” Tagarev noted, adding that all protocols for the ammunition’s disposal were followed.
Raising the level of readiness at this stage will have a very negative impact on the army personnel, he pointed out.
The Defence Minister explained that the location and destruction of unexploded ammunition happens almost every week around the country. Tagarev added that this is the first such case of a drone being discovered on the Bulgarian coast.
The emergency session of the Defence Committee was also attended by former Defence Minister and current Presidential Secretary for Security and Defence, Dimitar Stoyanov. He advised Tagarev that a seminar be held with the regional governors to explain how to act in such situations.
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