2024-08-30T16:26:00+03:00 World 2024-09-24T04:00:02+03:00

Ukrainian news

Powerful explosion occurs in Germany at defense plant producing IRIS-T

Powerful explosion occurs in Germany at defense plant producing IRIS-T

On the morning of August 30, a powerful explosion occurred at the defense enterprise Diehl Defence in Germany. Two men were seriously injured. Rescue helicopters, the police and a fire brigade were deployed.

This is reported by Bild.

Thus, according to the preliminary conclusions of the police, the explosion occurred in a building on the territory of the manufacturer of explosives in Troisdorf during a quality check. According to reports, two workers were seriously injured.

The head of the fire department of the city of Troisdorf told the publication that the fire department was notified of an accident at work around 9:32 a.m. At the scene, emergency services found two workers who were seriously injured as a result of the explosion. They had already managed to leave the building on their own.

The two workers (aged 26 and 61) from Cologne are said to have been treated at the scene by the rescue service and an ambulance doctor before being airlifted to nearby emergency hospitals.

"The building in question was seriously damaged as a result of the incident, so our emergency services could no longer get there. We only cut off the electricity supply to the building," the head of the fire department said.

A criminal investigation department is also on site. The investigation into the cause of the explosion continues. According to the police, there are currently no signs of a criminal offense. The Health and Safety Department was called.

"In the morning, a chemical reaction occurred due to the so-called deflagration (slow combustion of an explosive during improper blasting work - Ed.). All consequences were limited to the production workshop, there was no danger to residents," Diehl Defence spokesman David Voskuhl told BILD.

Regarding work at the site, a spokesman said: "DynITEC, which is owned by Diehl Defence, is in contact with the authorities. Troisdorf manufactures small components, the size of a fingertip, for igniting the explosives in missiles. The finished missiles are not produced here."

The newspaper recalled that just at the beginning of May, a fire broke out at the plant of the Diehl company in Berlin, which produces weapons for Ukraine. 160 firefighters tried to control the biggest fire in Berlin in recent years. But the building was completely destroyed.

It is worth noting that the IRIS-T SLM air defense system is a development of the German company Diehl Defence. It was these air defense systems that became one of the key components of the current sky defense system of Ukraine, which the country received as part of defense assistance from Germany.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, russia was preparing an assassination attempt on Armin Papperger, the director general of the German defense concern Rheinmetall.