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The Mesko arms factory in Poland, known to manufacture weapons and ammunition used by Ukraine in the war, went up in flames following a major explosion.
Knewz.com has learned that the incident occurred on Monday, June 10, and claimed the life of one of the factory workers.
The explosion at the rocket fuel center of the factory rocked the community in the city of Skarżysko-Kamienn and raised safety concerns about the arms plant.
Elżbieta Śreniawska, the president of the Mesko arms factory, said in a statement that the rocket fuel center was made operational a few years ago.
The huge explosion at the plant led to the death of a 59-year-old man, while another factory worker was injured. The fire brigade and an air ambulance helicopter responded to the scene and rushed the injured person to a local hospital.
Polish news outlet RMF24 reported that the factory worker is currently in stable condition.
"Mesko President Elżbieta Śreniawska declared at the briefing that the families of the employee who died and the injured party were provided with psychological assistance. Other employees of the company can also count on help in this regard," the outlet reported.
The accident is being investigated by a committee appointed by Mesko and Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ), which includes an "interdisciplinary" team of specialists. The affected sector of the factory will be closed off until the investigation is concluded.
"The remaining departments are working without disruption, it will not affect direct production," Śreniawska added in her statement via RMF24.
"Our endeavor will be to explain all the circumstances of this incident and find the causes of this accident," PGZ president Krzysztof Trofiniak weighed in, adding that the results of the investigation will be used to "improve procedures and introduce the necessary changes."
Preliminary reports suggested that the explosion and the resulting fire may have been caused by a malfunction in production equipment, per a CBS News report that cited local police spokesperson Jarosław Gwóźdź.
The incident previously raised concerns about the safety protocols at the weapons factory, as it was also the site of two other fatal accidents back in 2021 when two explosions killed two women in their forties.
RMF24 reported that said incident led to a trial before the District Court in Skarżysko-Kamienna in April 2021.
However, given that several parts of Europe had mysterious fires break out in warehouses and shopping centers, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk hinting that it could be the handiwork of Russia-backed saboteurs, a Russian involvement at the Mesko arms factory explosion cannot be entirely ruled out.
It should be noted that the weapons plant manufactured an array of weapons, ammunition, and missiles that were used by Volodymyr Zelensky's armed forces in the Ukraine war.
Furthermore, CBS News pointed out that the explosion came right after the United States State Department announced the establishment of an operation to fight the disinformation campaign being propagated by President Vladimir Putin in the Polish capital of Warsaw.
The State Department and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding on June 10 to seal the deal.
The Global Engagement Center of the State Department announced the operation on X, formerly known as Twitter:
"Today, the United States and [Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland] signed an MOU to increase cooperation in the fight against foreign information manipulation. This MOU signifies our joint commitment to safeguard the global information environment from this pernicious threat."