Five Die as Freight Train Explodes in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is to hold a day of national mourning on Monday for the victims of an explosion on a cargo train transporting liquified gas to Romania.

Five people were killed and ten are in a serious condition, three of them in a critical condition, the Bulgarian Health Minister Petar Moskov said on Saturday.

All 29 injured were taken to hospitals in nearby cities of Shumen and Varna on the Black Sea where hospitals have appealed for blood donations.

The cargo train, carrying tanks of liquefied petroleum gas and polypropylene, derailed at 5.37am on Saturday at the village of Hitrino.

One of the tanks that was derailed exploded. The massive blast destroyed at least 20 houses and public buildings in Hitrino.

Fire fighters teams are still putting out the blazes while the destroyed building are being searched for victims.

The authorities have started the full-scale evacuation of the village of around 1,000 inhabitants as a risky operation began to remove dangerous substances from the train wreck, the Interior Mininstry said on Saturday.

Evacuees will be transported to the homes of relatives in nearby villages and in Shumen, while those who have lost their homes and have nowhere to go will be sheltered in Shumen.

Bulgaria's outgoing prime minister, Boyko Borissov, launched a national plan for disaster management and is coordinating its enforcement together with the ministers of interior, healthcare, transport, deputy prime minister Tomislav Donchev, the secretary general of the ministry of interior and the head of the fire and civil protection department of the police.

Borissov told journalists on Saturday that unfortunately the death toll could rise to beyond the five known victims.

The freight train was operated...