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Four demolition experts dead after explosion at Hungarian bombing range

02 July 2016 02:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The four military demolition experts who died in an explosion at a bombing range on Friday afternoon were killed by a post-WWII Russian bomb, defense minister Istvan Simicsko told a late-night news conference here on Friday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

He also reported that the fifth soldier had been seriously injured but that his condition was not life-threatening.

Chief of staff Tibor Benko said that the four men were in their 30s and had left five children behind.

The two men reported that the bomb was a 250 kilogram Russian-made fragmentation bomb manufactured shortly after World War II and that the detonator had already been removed when the explosion occurred.

The bombing range is located within the Hortobagy National Park in eastern Hungary, and covers 4,000 hectares (about 9,800 acres). It had been used for practice by the Hungarian armed forces for decades.

Benko said a detailed investigation has been initiated to discover the cause of the accident. The four deceased soldiers have been declared heroes posthumously.

According to internet news portal Index.hu, efforts to clean up the area and remove explosives have been underway since 2013.