Two dead in severe Bulgaria snowstorms
PUBLISHED ONMarch 10, 2015 1:59 PM
Two men have died in heavy snowstorms in Bulgaria that have left tens of thousands of people without electricity for days, authorities said Tuesday.
The frozen body of an elderly man was found near a bus stop in the southern region of Krumovgrad while another man died from a heart attack while clearing snow in the central Stara Planina mountain range.
More than 600 small towns and villages in southern Bulgaria were without power for a fourth day as ice and fallen trees cut electricity lines.
The roads to about 100 villages in the region of Smolyan in the southern Rhodope mountains were completely cut off, with volunteers braving two-metre (six-feet) snowdrifts to deliver vital supplies.
All metal ore mines in the nearby region of Rudozem were flooded, the local mayor said, and local authorities fear that the melting snow will cause new floods in the coming weeks.