site.btaTwo Meteorologists Assaulted in High-Mountain Base in Inexplicable Act of Violence

Two meteorologists were assaulted and beaten up by a 32-year-old man in their high-mountain weather station on Mt. Murgash, Iliya Kuzmanov, Deputy Director of the 5th Regional Directorate, told journalists on Monday. The assault occurred on Sunday night, when shortly after 1 am the keeper of the Murgash chalet called the emergency number 112 to report that two workers from the nearby meteorological station had been beaten up.

The attacker had broken into the meteorological station after smashing a third-floor window.

He assaulted the two meteorologists with tongs and a stove spit. The victims escaped through a window on the first floor of their station and walked about four kilometers to Murgash chalet, where they sought help.

They were then transported to the hospital, where they remain to date in serious but stable condition, Sofia's Tsaritsa Ioana Hospital said. 

Police detained the attacker in the weather station. He fiercely resistance during his arrest, Kuzmanov noted.

The man has no criminal record and there is no information about a mental disorder. He has not given any explanation, declined medical care and refused to take a blood sample.

The prosecution service will seek indefinite remand for the attacker, the spokesman of the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office, Nikolay Nikolaev, told journalists. The man is charged with inflicting medium bodily harm and could receive up to six years in prison if found guilty.