The mayor of Pirot, Vladan Vasic, declared a state of emergency in the city due to the high concentration of ammonia in the atmosphere. It was reached after an accident involving a train in the area of the Sopot tunnel, reports the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Residents in the area are advised to stay indoors and schools will be closed today.

As of 10:00 p.m., there were no reports of injured and hospitalized Bulgarian citizens, except for five persons who, after being examined, were released from the hospital in Pirot.

Bulgarian citizens are advised to avoid visiting Pirot in the next few days.

In case of need for assistance, Bulgarian citizens can contact the duty phone of GK Nis 00381668408062.

The train was carrying Bulgarian cargo, but there is no way to claim responsibility from our country for what happened since at the time of the derailment, the train was operated by the Serbian state railways. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport Krasimir Papukchiiski to BNT.

“The train composition has Bulgarian cargo and is loaded on the territory of Bulgaria. All 20 wagons are French and German, having been hired, transported by a Bulgarian private operator to the border with Serbia, where the composition was handed over to colleagues from the Serbian state railway operator. The drivers are from the Serbian operator. Responsibility cannot be sought from Bulgaria in the situation that the Serbian railways technically accepted the train at the border and took it from there,” said Deputy Minister of Transport Krasimir Papukchiiski.

Bulgaria has offered help to deal with the incident and the Serbian authorities are currently considering whether it is needed.

Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook

Write to us at editors@novinite.com

Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg

/BNR

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!