site.btaDupnitsa Marks 81st Anniversary of WWII Bombing

The town of Dupnitsa Saturday marked the 81st anniversary of its bombing during World War II (1939-1945), the Town Hall said. A prayer was said in front of the memorial plaque of the victims in Freedom Square. Mayor Parvan Dangov recalled the events of 81 years ago. 

On January 4, 1944, over 100 Anglo-American B-17 aircraft took off from an airbase near Bari, Italy, heading towards Bulgaria to bomb the capital. Due to a heavy fog over Sofia which stopped them from locating their designated targets, the aircraft bombed nearby settlements instead.

Highly explosive bombs weighing 250 kilograms were dropped over the areas of Mezdra, Vratsa and the Iskar Gorge, all in Western Bulgaria. Dupnitsa was the worst hit by the bombing. Around 12.30pm, some 30 aircraft dropped more than 100 bombs on the town's civilian population.

The attack claimed the lives of 61 people and injured more than 40. A total of 52 residential buildings were destroyed, along with 14 enterprises, banks, the post office, the dispensary, the power and water supply and urban infrastructure. A school and the Agricultural Bank were razed to the ground.