site.btaEmergency Response Training Begins in Sofia

A pilot emergency response training called "Case Sofia" began in Sofia on Thursday, Peter Velinov, system operator at the Aerospace Observations Centre, told a news conference.The three-day event features various types of training with the participation of teams from the Fire Safety and Population Protection Directorate General, Sofia Municipality's Emergency Assistance and Prevention Directorate, the capital's regional health inspectorate and regional environment and water inspectorate, and the Sofiyska Voda AD water and sewerage operator.

Thursday's training aims to demonstrate how one should act during floods. The programme includes a simulation of a flood in the area of Pancharevo Dam where the water has been polluted with waste materials, Velinov explained. A detailed, hour-by-hour programme has been prepared determining how the disaster will unfold and how the situation will be managed. The goal is to strengthen the coordination between the first to be affected by a flood. Many new technologies and prototypes will be used, he said.

Trainings of this type are planned to be held in the future as well.

Cause Sofia is carried out by the Interior Ministry's Communication and Information Systems Directorate within the PathoCERT project, funded under the EU's Horizon 2020 programme. The training's leading partner and coordinator is the Centre of Excellence at the University of Cyprus in Nicosia, and it is implemented by an international consortium of 23 partners from 11 countries.