Heavy snow, strong wind block transportation in Bulgaria

Heavy snowfall and strong wind blocked on Tuesday for the second time in two weeks the entire Bulgarian transportation network, including border crossings. The Road Infrastructure Agency prohibited circulation to all vehicles weighing over 10 tons on the national road network. In the northeastern cities and provinces of Ruse, Shumen and Razgrad, road networks have been closed entirely. According to the Interior Ministry, three border crossings with Romania, the Black Sea port of Varna as well as Plovdiv International Airport have also been closed. Six trains have been terminated. The freezing weather snap also hit heavily the power supply. As many as 205 villages throughout Bulgaria were left without electricity. At the same time, the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint near the country's border with Turkey was blocked because of flooding caused by heavy rains and a dam rupture in southeastern Bulgaria, which killed 8 people on Monday.