Heavy winter conditions in Northern Bulgaria: Road closures, stuck lorries, overturned snow plough

Winter conditions in Northestern Bulgaria have been heavy as it has snowed with various intensity in the different regions. On December 8, the region of Rousse saw the heaviest snowfall.

Rousse-Byalla road remained closed for 6 hours because lorries got stuck after the heavy overnight snowfall. In four places, lorries with worn tires skidded. The road had to be closed to traffic, making other drivers wait for a long time to be re-opened.

The stuck lorries were pulled out and shortly after 9.00 in the morning the road to Sofia was re-opened to traffic.

The roads Rousse -Razgrad and Rousse-Silistra were also closed for a short time due to broken down lorries. The local district administration requested police to carry out checks and impose sanctions on vehicles using tyres that are inappropriate for driving in winter conditions.

Three lorry drivers were fined. In addition to using worn tyres, many motorists were driving too fast for the road conditions. In one instance, a TIR lorry, driving too quickly, crashed into a fence and ran into the yard of a house in the village of Glozhene.

The heavy snowfall caused problems on the roads in the SouthBulgarian region of Smolyan as well. A snow ploughing machine overturned into a field while taking a bend on an icy road near the village of stoikite. The driver was not injured.

There were power outages in the villages of Kutella and Slaveino, because of fallen trees on the power lines. The electricity supply was restored.