A kindergarten and three houses have been illegally constructed over the gas pipeline that exploded in March near Sofia's Suhodol District.

A check by Sofia Municipality and the Toplofikatsia heating utility showed the irregularities after Economy and Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov accused the municipality of handing out illegal construction permits.

All the houses are located in the Fakulteta district, predominantly populated by Roma, the state BNT channel announced. One of the houses had been there since 1973 but its owners have no construction plan or blueprints. The other two houses have been raised without the municipality's consent. More than 50 people, members of seven families, currently live in the three houses.

The kindergarten has been closed for two years but the gas pipeline has been cutting the ground under its yard for more than 30 years.

The gas pipeline exploded in March leaving parts of Sofia without hot water and heating. The problem still hasn't been solved because Toplofikatsia hasn't completed the tender that is to choose the company that would fix the pipeline.

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