An explosion at Polish police headquarters was caused by a grenade
launcher, police chief Jaroslaw Szymczyk said.
Szymczyk said that the decommissioned weapon was a gift from Ukraine.
Poland’s Interior Ministry said that the blast was triggered on Wednesday
at the police headquarters in Warsaw.
Polish authorities are probing the incident and considering whether to
bring charges.
“When I went to move the used-up grenade launchers, which were a gift from
the Ukrainians, there was an explosion,”
Szymczyk said, adding that it occurred when he placed one of the grenade
launchers upright.
“The explosion was powerful — the force of the impact penetrated the floor
and damaged the ceiling,” he said.
Szymczyk was then taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
Szymczyk told Poland’s RMF radio station that he had received a number of
gifts from Kyiv, including two used-up grenade launchers.
Szymczyk said that his delegation that transported the gifts to Poland told
him it would not be an issue, as they were worth no more than “scrap
metal.” RMF cited the police chief as saying that Ukrainian authorities had
assured him that the second grenade launcher was used and safe.
RMF reported that one of the grenade launchers had been turned into a
loudspeaker.
Tomasz Siemoniak, former defense minister and lawmaker of the liberal
opposition Civic Platform party, called the incident “indefensible.”
“The heads of those responsible for the situation and endangering lives
must fly. The commander has lost the ability to manage the police,”
Siemoniak said.
“I thought that our government was sending grenade launchers to Ukraine,
but it turns out that it’s importing them,” Civic Platform lawmaker and
former foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski tweeted.
In Poland, intentionally causing an explosion threatening the lives of many
people is punishable by up to five years in prison.