Foreign Ministry calls on Bulgarians not to travel to Pirot in Serbia
Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry has issued a travel advisory for the town of Pirot in southern Serbia, urging Bulgarians not to travel to that area “in the next several days” due to the emergency declared by the town’s mayor.
The emergency was due to the derailing outside Pirot of a train transporting ammonia late on December 25, which resulted in a leak and required the hospitalisation of 51 people from a nearby village.
Bulgarian nationals in need of assistance were advised to contact the Bulgarian consulate in Nis or the ministry’s hotline, the Foreign Ministry said.
Public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) quoted the Bulgarian consul in Nis saying that no Bulgarian nationals were injured in the incident, although several sought medical assistance and were already discharged.
BNT said that a mobile crew was dispatched to monitor air quality on the Bulgarian side of the border, but initial reports from the Serbian side were that there was no evidence of increased contamination levels at the border.
Bulgarian National Radio reported that the cargo was being shipped from Bulgaria, but the operator and train crew were Serbian.
(Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry. Photo: mfa.bg)
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