Adrian Petrov

The situation in several regions across Bulgaria remains challenging following heavy snowfall and strong winds. In the Lovech area, many settlements in the municipalities of Apriltsi, Lovech, Teteven, Troyan, and Ugarchin have been without electricity for over two days.

Twelve villages in the Smolyan region remain without electricity due to heavy snowfall, according to Deputy Regional Governor Adrian Petrov. The outages were caused by fallen trees, which collapsed onto power lines under the weight of snow. Electricity distribution teams have been working for a second consecutive day to address the damage and restore power to the affected areas.

A tanker truck transporting bitumen caught fire on the road near the village of Beden in the direction of Shiroka Laka, where asphalt is being laid. Firefighting teams, as well as the police, responded to the signal for the incident, which took place shortly after 5 pm.

A wildfire that raged in the Rhodope mountains above the city of Smolyan, in southern Bulgaria, has been contained, bTV reported on Thursday evening.

The spreading of the blaze has been halted, Smolyan Mayor Nikolai Melemov told the TV station.

There was already no risk to people, houses or other buildings around the perimeter of the fire as of 7 p.m. (1700 GMT).