Explosion rocks Czech explosives factory; four missing

Four workers are missing after a blast occurred at an explosives maker in the Czech Republic on Wednesday.

Four other workers sustained minor injuries when a load of nitroglycerin blew up, local firefighers said, DPA reported.

The force of the blast broke windows in the town of Pardubice, 100 kilometres east of Prague.

The Pardubice-based company Explosia is probably best known for Semtex, a plastics explosive that repeatedly fell into the hands of terrorists in the 1980s. Libyan-supplied Semtex was widely used in attacks in Ireland.

Explosia still produces a variety of explosives for commercial and military applications.