site.btaSituation Remains Complicated Due to Heavy Snowfalls, Three Killed by Avalanche in Pirin

Situation Remains Complicated Due to Heavy Snowfalls, Three Killed by Avalanche in Pirin

Sofia, March 8 (BTA) - The situation in the country remains
complicated due to the heavy snowfalls, which began on Friday
and continued during the weekend. Three skiers died from an
avalanche in the Pirin Mountain. On Saturday, a state of
emergency has been declared in the regions of Smolyan and
Kurdzhali due to heavy snowfall, fallen trees and power supply
cuts. The heavy snowfall has aggravated the situation in the
entire country and the Rhodope region in particular.

Defence Minister Nikolai Nenchev, Minister of Regional
Development and Public Works Liliana Pavlova and Environment and
Water Minister Ivelina Vassileva travelled to Smolyan and
Kurdzhali on Sunday to coordinate urgent measures. Defence
Minister Nikolai Nenchev set up a crisis centre because of the
bad weather conditions.

Around 800 settlements are without electricity and the situation
in Smolyan and Kurdzhali is the most critical, outgoing
Interior
Minister Vesselin Vuchkov said. Specialized machines have been
used to supply the snowbound settlements with prime necessities
and medicines, National Fire Service Director Nikolai Nikolov
said. According to him, there have not been so many problems
with the power supply for years. Only two dams, at the Arda
River, are reported with critically high water level but they do
not pose a threat to the population. The authorities in
neighbouring Greece and Turkey have been alerted.

Over 200 villages in the troubled Smolyan Region are without
electricity, the regional administration said. Electricity cuts
and fallen trees are the main problem, Deputy Regional Governor
Adrian Petrov said. Only the towns of Smolyan, Chepelare,
Pamporovo, Devin and Shiroka Luka have normal power supplies.

In Smolyan, Minister Vassileva said that Sunday showers were
expected to reach
69-80 l/sq m. In the high parts of the mountain the snow cover
has reached 150-170 cm. Over 80 percent of the settlements in
the region are without electricity, which Vassileva identified
as the main problem.

The level of the rivers on the country's territory keeps on
increasing nationwide but there are no critical situations for
the time being, she commented.

The Defence Ministry said that military personnel is clearing
roads in Smolyan Region. The largest amount of precipitation, at
92 l/sq m, over the last 24 hours has been reported in
Zlatograd. Rescue teams are transporting patients from the
villages to the regional hospital for dialysis treatments.

On Saturday, over 300 settlements in Kurdzhali Region were left
without electricity.

Luki Municipality, Plovdiv Region, also declared a state of
emergency, Plovdiv Regional Governor Rozalin Petkov said on
Sunday. The settlements in the municipality have been without
electricity since Saturday and there is no access to them, he
added.

Settlements in the regions of Sliven, Haskovo, Lovech, Gabrovo,
Veliko Turnovo, Turgovishte, Pernik, Vratsa and Montana have
suffered power outages.

Three men died from an avalanche near Yavorov Hut in Pirin, the
press centre of the Regional Directorate of the Interior
Ministry in Blagoevgrad said. Radko Bozhinov, Secretary of the
Pirin Tourist Society, told BTA said that the three men were
skiing down a gully, when an avalanche reached them. The three
had died before the rescue teams uncovered them.

A bus transporting children has remained snow bound just beneath
Malyovitsa Mount in Rila. The children were accommodated in
the Malyovitsa Hut, after which they were safely transported by
high-terrain vehicles to their hometown. The Interior Ministry
is trying to find out whether there are people in the mountain
huts. It has transpired at the meeting of the Interior Ministry
Crisis Centre that there are problems with the mobile phone
connections.

The level of the rivers continues to increase, the Environment
and Water Ministry said Saturday evening. Kamchiya River has
risen by 94 cm at Grozdyovo Village and Fakiiska River has
increased its level by more than two meters at Zidarovo Village.
The water mark of Maritsa at Svilengrad has also increased by
two meters.

The water level of Toundja River at Elhovo has increased by
around 15 cm to reach 364 cm, given that the critical level is
395 cm, the officer on duty told BTA on Sunday. It is expected
to increase further and the town is likely to be partially
flooded for a third time in the recent months. The water mark of
Toundja has increased by over 70 cm at Yambol reaching 446 cm.

The situation in Maritsa-East Mines remains heavy but is under
control. There is no threat for the country's power system,
Еnergy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova said in Radnevo quoted by
the company's press centre. She visited the mines in Radnevo on
Sunday.

School classes in the regions of Smolyan and Kurdzhali have been
cancelled for Monday and Tuesday.