Traffic intensifies as Bulgaria heads for first working day after New Year holiday
Traffic and border police were on standby in Bulgaria to deal with heavy traffic as travellers headed home after the New Year holiday.
Updates on the situation at border checkpoints are available from National Coordination Center +359 2 983 18 65 and +359 2 988 58 67.
Lorries heavier than 10 tons have been banned from using Bulgaria’s national roads on January 1 2013 from noon until 10pm.
State railways BDZ said that tickets for all long-distance trains had been sold out but there were some available for trains in the afternoon of January 2.
New Year’s Eve in Bulgaria passed, if not quietly, at least with a relatively low number of serious incidents.
In Sofia, two women died after their car entered the oncoming traffic lane in Europa Boulevard, resulting in a head-on collision with another vehicle.
A number of people were treated in hospitals in Sofia and elsewhere for injuries resulting from mishandling fireworks.
Four minors, aged between 14 and 16, were treated in Sofia’s Pirogov emergency hospital after excessive consumption of alcohol, local news agency Focus quoted the hospital as saying.
Shortly after midnight, traffic police from Plovdiv chased a drunk motorist on Trakiya Motorway. The motorist ignored a baton signal to stop and a chase resulted, with the driver ignoring flashing light and siren signals to stop. After his arrest, the driver – a 38-year-old man from Bourgas – was found to have a blood-alcohol level close to three times the legal limit.
(Photo: Peter Suneson/sxc.hu)
