“I want to assure all Sofia citizens that there is nothing dangerous," Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolai Tsonev told private broadcaster bTV concerning the series of explosions at a military warehouse in Chelopechene, a village east of Sofia. According to Tsonev, the substances released from the explosions were nitrogen and carbon monoxides.

Investigators would be allowed to enter the warehouse to start the inquest into the causes of the explosions an hour after the last blast has ended, Tsonev added.

“There is no danger for the population of Sofia. I ask the people living in the region of the blasts not to succumb to panic; not to go near the place of the incident so they do not get hurt by accident; to keep cool and to wait for the teams of the civil protection service,” Vladislav Prelezov, spokesperson of the Emergency Situations Ministry, told bTV.

“The conclusion one can make is that the Government is inadequate. God forbid we get struck by a terrorist act. There is no order, no system,” Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov told bTV.