BUDAPEST, Aug 6 (AFP) - Hungarian police arrested Friday the director of the fireworks factory that was destroyed by blasts the previous day, killing three people, for allegedly keeping unauthorized military explosives at the site.
"The director general and finance director of the factory were arrested after the discovery of residue of several hundred kilograms (pounds) of gunpowder, for which the Pyrotech company did not have authorization," said regional police chief Istvan Ignac.
Ten people were injured in the blasts which propelled fireworks as far as five kilometers (three miles) away from the factory located on the western suburbs of the capital Budapest.
"The four-meter (13-foot) crater leads one to think the explosives blew up first and not the fireworks," he said. "We now think that the illegally stored military material blew up first and then set off the fireworks."
An inquiry has been launched into the cause of the blasts, which is expected to take a month.
The owner of a nearby lot was arrested for allegedly stocking land mine detonators, which also went off during the fire.
Explosions continued for several hours after the initial blast, keeping firefighters at bay.
Firefighters found two bodies in the fireworks factory on Friday, taking the death toll to three.
The factory is the biggest firework manufacturer in the country and is located in an industrial zone in Totokbalint, 10 kilometers west of the capital.