Heavy snowfall blocks roads, cuts power in southern Bulgaria

Power supply to more than 800 locations in southern Bulgaria has been disrupted as of Sunday evening due to heavy snowfall now in its third day.

Some villages and towns in the regions of Smolyan and Kardzhali as well as the southernmost areas of Pazardzhik region have remained without water supply, too, as water pumps were idled by the lack of electricity.

Worst affected were the municipalities of Madan, Zlatograd, Nedelino and Rudozem. Households there remained without electricity for a second day in row.

Mobile telecommunications in those regions also were disrupted. Mobile operators have promised to provide emergency power feed to their cells to restore the operation of their phone network in the affected regions.

With power lines damaged in many areas of Bulgaria's southern Rhodope Mountains, to which access is either very difficult or impossible at the moment it will take days before electricity supply is restored, outgoing Interior Minister Veselin Vuchkov said.

Army units have been sent to carry food and medicines to villages in Smolyan and Kardzhali regions blocked by snowdrifts as high as two meters.

A state of emergency was declared in the town of Velingrad where fresh snow cover is in excess of one metre. The towns of Batak and Peshtera in Pazardzhik region also were struggling without electricity.

Snowfall is expected to continue in Bulgaria's southern mountains on Monday, albeit at a lower intensity.

Troyanovo 1, one of the open pits at Maritsa Iztok coal mines, suspended operations on Sunday due to heavy rains that had flooded the pit and disrupted traffic along the railway connecting the mine with the nearby power plant Maritsa East 2.   

Overflowing rivers in Haskovo region halted traffic on the...