28.02.2017.
The Minister of Defence in Kragujevac
In the explosion that happened today during fire extinguishing in the Technical Overhaul Facility in Kragujevac, Lieutenant Colonel of the Serbian Armed Forces, Miroslav Perišić died from the detonation. Three persons are still unaccounted for and 25 members of the Serbian Armed Forces and Ministry of Interior were injured. The Minister of Defence, Mr Zoran Đorđević extended heartfelt condolences to the family of Lieutenant Colonel Perišić on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces.
Minister Đorđević and the Assistant Minister of Defence for Material Resources, Nenad Miloradović visited tonight the injured, hospitalised in the Clinical Centre in Kragujevac, accompanied by the Director of that health centre, Dr Predrag Sazdanović.
On that occasion, the Minister of Defence stated that on that day at 13.20 an explosion occurred in the TOF Kragujevac in the facility A 28, used for ammunition disassembly, followed by a fire which spread over facilities A 28 and A27. Fire fighting teams consisting of the members of the Ministry of Interior and the members of a fire fighting unit of the TOF Kragujevac started putting out the fire when at 13.45 the second explosion took place.
- Sadly, due to detonation one person lost its life. It was Lieutenant Colonel Miroslav Perišić and on this occasion we extend heartfelt condolences to his family. Lieutenant Colonel Perišić worked diligently and dedicatedly for 26 years in the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces. Within these 26 years, he worked in the TOF Kragujevac for 2 years – stated Minister Đorđević.
He also established that after the second explosion three persons were missing and an intensive search was being conducted. He further said that 25 persons were hospitalised.
- The Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces place priority on the safety of their members and insist on maximum safety when life and work of their members are in question, and they are adamant that all measures for safety at work must be at the highest level – stressed Minister Đorđević adding that the facility where the accident took place was built in line with the highest safety standards.
Minister Đorđević also underlined that he set up a commission tasked to determine the causes and reasons for this sad event, whose findings would be timely communicated to the public.
Answering the questions of journalists, Minister Đorđević underscored that the unaccounted persons were in the zone that was still dangerous at that time and that could not be entered into. He also said that the teams from the Ministry of Defence equipped with a drone and a robot assist in the search for those individuals.
He explained that there existed a danger from new fires, and that the site of the accident was still unsecured since it was visible from afar that the fire was still smouldering, which was the reason for denying access to the accident site until the teams from Belgrade came.
While addressing the reporters, the Director of the Clinical Centre in Kragujevac, Dr Sazdanović said that after 14 hours that day, after the second explosion and the arrival of the teams of civilian and military ambulances, 25 patients were hospitalised, out of whom three were observed in the Clinical Centre since their injuries could be described as specific.
- Having in mind the specific nature of the injuries, we have contacted our colleagues from the Military Medical Academy so that they could assist in the assessment of the patients’ status, since new subsequent injuries may occur after some time. We expect that the team from the MMA will arrive during the night, and only after their arrival and additional diagnostics, which is in progress, can we provide additional information - Dr Sazdanović declared.
According to his words, at that moment there were no critically injured patients and further diagnostics would be timely for all the received patients.
- Based on the diagnostics conducted so far, we can say that the injuries are primarily burns, injuries of soft tissues, but we are concerned about the injuries of internal organs. It is precisely because of the specific blast type injuries that we have called our colleagues from the MMA, who will assist us in the assessment of the condition and possible further interventions- said Dr Sazdanović.
After addressing the journalists, Minister Đorđević headed towards the place of the explosion together with the Assistant Minister of Defence for Material Resources, Nenad Miloradović.
