May 1 is a black date in the calendar of Vratsa. Then it happened one of the worst industrial disasters in the history of Bulgaria - the catastrophic flood caused by the rupture of the dam of the tailings dam of the mine “Plakalnitsa“ above the village of Zgorigrad, recalls "Bulnews".
On May 1, 1966, at around 11:25 a.m., during the festive events for Labor Day, the wall of the tailings dam “Mir“ (part of the mine “Plakalnitsa“) broke. As a result, about 450,000 cubic meters of toxic mass — water, mud, heavy metals and cyanides - flood the village of Zgorigrad, pass through the Vratsata pass and reach the center of Vratsa.
A year before the tragedy, on June 12, 1965, the Soviet tailings pond specialist Pavel Evdokimov warned the Bulgarian authorities about cracks and landslides in the wall of the facility, indicating the possibility of a catastrophe with human casualties in the spring of 1966.
However, the necessary measures were not taken.
Officially, the then authorities reported 107 deaths, but later estimates indicate that the number of victims was over 500, and the number of injured - more than 2,000. Over 150 houses were destroyed, and hundreds of families were left homeless. The authorities then covered up the full extent of what had happened, limiting information about the disaster.
The memories of the survivors of the tragedy remain vivid to this day. Nasko Novkov, then a nine-year-old child, recounts the horror of that day:
“I remember, we were with friends at the stadium in Vratsa... At one point, someone said that there would be no match and that we should leave. We went to the place where the Youth Center is now, we saw mud on the street, a lot of mud... I saw my mother on the other side, in the Kemer neighborhood, I heard her scream... She hugged me like that, my dear, she squeezed me like that… mother, no one else can do it like that.“
Tsetsa Krasteva from the village of Zgorigrad lost her entire family in the disaster:
„During the flood, I lost my entire family... Many people died, it's bad that it happened right on a holiday, and the mine management didn't want to announce that there were problems with the tailings pond. Everything was kept secret.“
Today, Vratsa and Zgorigrad keep the memory of this tragedy alive through memorials and annual commemorations. On May 1st every year, flowers are laid and tributes are paid to the dead. The tragedy remains as a warning about the need for strict control and maintenance of industrial facilities in order to prevent similar disasters in the future.