Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Military helicopters evacuate people from flooding in villages in Karlovo region

There are power outages in some of the villages, roads have been cut off

Bogdan village
Photo: BGNES

No casualties have been reported in the flooding after the torrential rain in several villages in the region of Karlovo, the Bulgarian news agency BTA reports, citing Plovdiv regional governor Angel Stoev. Three houses and one shop have been destroyed in the village of Slatina, one house in the village of Bogdan, and several houses have been partially destroyed in Karavelovo.

Bogdan has been hit hardest, around 20 people have been airlifted from the village by helicopter. 100 soldiers and equipment have been sent to help the people there. The helicopter will deliver food and water to Bogdan which is still cut off, as well as to the most critical points, but only during daylight hours. Several substations in the stricken villages have been flooded which is why the electric power supply there is patchy.

Because Byala River has burst its banks, part of the national architectural reserve in Koprivshtitsa is under water, according to a bTV reporter. Many houses have been flooded and people have been asked to turn off their electrical power supply.

At the same time the National Investigation Service has launched an investigation into a possible criminal offense – criminal negligence causing flooding. The rescue operations continue to evacuate people from the flooded areas where the rain continues. Besides the army, specialized teams from the Road Infrastructure Agency, as well as emergency teams from Sofia municipality are also helping the population in the disaster zones.

Caretaker Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Shishkov, who is in the area, specified that the damage is mostly to the municipal infrastructure, but that the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works will do what it can to help. The main streets in Voynyagovo village in the region of Plovdiv, which is close to Stryama River, have been flooded, BTA reports. People are stacking sandbags around their homes, as the manholes in the streets are overflowing.

Stryama River is on the verge of flooding the Plovdiv-Karlovo road near the town of Banya. The houses near the river are flooded.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Boris Bonev

GERB sold the lift facilities on Vitosha for 4 million euros

The capital's mayor, Vasil Terziev, recalled the commitment to have at least one working lift on Vitosha by the end of his term in 2027. At a briefing on the non-working facilities in the mountain, he stated that there is no way one..

published on 5/19/24 12:27 PM

Bad conditions for mountain tourism

The weather conditions in the mountains are not suitable for tourism, the Mountain Rescue Service has warned. The temperature is around 10°C. It is cloudy, there is fog and rainfalls everywhere as the snow in the higher parts..

published on 5/19/24 11:22 AM

Mediana Agency: GERB leads with 12% ahead of "Vazrazhdane", while DPS is third

Three weeks before the elections for National Assembly and European Parliament, GERB leads with 27.5% ahead of "Vazrazhdane" with 15.7% and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) with 14.2%, according to a sociological survey by..

published on 5/19/24 10:40 AM