Blasts at Serb arms factory kill seven

September 04, 2009 12:59:55 PM

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Explosions ripped through a munitions factory in northern Serbia on Thursday killing seven people and injuring 14 others, officials said.

"Seven employees, six women and one man, were killed in the explosions" that rocked the Prvi Partizan plant in Uzice, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on B92 television after visiting the scene.

Fourteen people suffered light injuries and had been taken to hospital, he added.

The cause of the explosions has yet to be determined, said Dacic.

The bodies were pulled from the debris, said police official Predrag Maric, adding that firefighters had put out the resulting blaze.

"A more serious catastrophe was avoided as some 100 people were located in the factory at the moment of the explosions," he said.

Town mayor Jovan Markovic said the explosions occurred at around 11:30 pm (2130 GMT).

The Prvi Partizan factory, which employs around 600 people, has manufactured ammunition for nearly 80 years for the Serbian military and police, as well as foreign armies. It also produces ammunition for hunters.

The cause of the explosions was not immediately known.

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