One dead, 8 injured in Czech military training area blast

PRAGUE - One person was killed and eight people were injured on Monday in an ammunition explosion at a military training area in eastern Czech Republic, according to the Czech army.

"One soldier died during the explosion in the Libava military training area," the Czech Armed Forces said on the social media platform X, adding that seven soldiers and one civilian employee were taken to hospital.

In a previous post on X, the Czech Armed Forces said around noon that they were dealing with "a serious accident" in the Libava military training area.

The incident is being investigated by the military police.

Calling the explosion "a tragic event," Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said that she could rule out that the explosion was caused "by sabotage or other activities by a foreign power" based on initial findings.

"I visited some of the wounded. Fortunately, all of them are out of danger, and three of them have already been released from the hospital," the minister said on X.

According to the Czech Ministry of Defense, the ammunition exploded shortly after 11:00 am local time during a planned pyrotechnic training.