HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS CAUSE ROAD CLOSURES ACROSS BULGARIA

The situation on 6th of January remains most difficult in the North-East Bulgaria and the black Sea coastal district of Bourgas. The roads to Varna, Dobrich, Silistra, Targovishte, Shumen, Bourgas and Rousse are closed for traffic. There is an intense snowfall. Snowing is the heaviest in the region of Karnobat, South–East of Bulgaria. Visibility is poor. The temperatures are dropping below zero.

Hard winter condition also hit the districts of Smolyan (South Bulgaria), Vratsa and Montana (North-West Bulgaria). The snow caused train delays. Many bus services have been temporarily cancelled.

North-East Bulgaria has been under snow blockade since the morning because of the continuous snowfall and strong winds. Hundreds of villages remained without electricity and many without water. A ban on movement of all vehicles in the districts of Silistra, Razgrad and Rousse has been in place. The mobile military unit in Rousse provided support to the emergency teams.

Impassable roads, confused drivers, buses from international lines and freight vehicles remained blocked at parking places. Such is the situation in Rousse on the Danube river. Snow cover in the region exceeds 30 cm and temperatures are -7 degrees.

The crisis management team in Rousse received a signal that 5 cars with passengers including children were stuck in the road section between the village of Marten and Nikolovo. Snow ploughing equipment was sent to provide assistance but got stuck 2 km before the place. Meanwhile, the passengers in the stuck cars managed themselves to escape the snow trap and got home.

The winter conditions in North-West Bulgaria are getting better. Many roads are open for traffic. The situation at Yana railway station has been brought back to normal. The lorries which had blocked the road to protest were gradually evacuated. Petrohan pass was open for traffic.

The pass of the Republic is open only for cars.

Lesovo check point at the border with turkey has also been temporarily closed.

photo by BTA