Schools remain closed in 13 districts of Bulgaria due to the heavy snowfall

A state of emergency has been declared in a number of districts in Bulgaria due to the severe weather conditions caused by the heavy snowfall over the weekend. The day will remain without classes for students in over 280 schools in 13 districts.

The employees of the Fire Safety and Protection of the Population Main Directorate have responded to 1,076 signals during the last 24 hours. 191 teams were involved in coping with accidents due to the complicated weather conditions, 288 people were evacuated, the Ministry of the Interior announced. 55 fires were extinguished and 1,007 rescue operations were carried out.

The situation is most severe in North-Eastern Bulgaria where a red code alert for dangerous weather was announced.

In many villages of Varna there is still no electricity and water, they remain inaccessible. The conditions are heavy in the regions of Dobrich, Razgrad, Silistra, Vratsa, Ruse, Shumen, Veliko Tarnovo, Pleven, Gabrovo, Sliven.  

Transportation is also difficult along the railway lines in the country - some trains will not run, and others, such as the fast trains from Sofia to Varna and from Varna to Sofia, are delayed by nearly two and a half hours.