Snowbound villagers announce they're "out of tobacco"

Snowbound villagers announce they're "out of tobacco"

KURSUMLIJA, PRIJEPOLJE, LJIG -- Villagers in Igriste, south Kursumlija in central Serbia, have appealed on municipal authorities to clear the snow from the road leading to the village.

Local man Zivota Jevremovic explained that everyone in the village was well - but that out of Igriste's 30 residents, some 20 are smokers who had "run out of tobacco."

This was the main reason they repeatedly asked the municipality to clear some 20 kilometers of road leading to their village, he explained.

The villagers also "declared a state of emergency and informed the municipality of Kursumlija of this before a state of emergency was officially declared," the municipal president, Rodoljub Vidic, confirmed for Beta.

Describing the situation in and around Iriste, Jevremovic said that snow was up to one meter deep in some places, while snowdrifts reached three meters, and that "this situation occurred three days ago."

However, he remarked, the locals were "honest" when they told the mayor the reason they requested the road to be cleared of snow.

"There are about 20 smokers in the village, and they have been left without tobacco - all are, thank God, alive and well. We were honest and said what the real reason is, so if they want to, they can clear the road," Jevremovic said.

He also revealed that he made "several attempts to bring tobacco to Igriste on foot," but was thwarted each time by the deep snowdrifts.

Meanwhile in Kursumlija, Mayor Vidic said that local roads are being cleared according to a list of priorities, which for now exclude Igriste.

"It's true, they called because they had ran out of tobacco. We have not taken this into...