Over 30 houses in the village of Gara Elin Pelin have been damaged by the explosions

Over 30 houses in the village of Gara Elin Pelin have been damaged as a result of the explosions in the fireworks warehouses, inspections are ongoing. This was announced at a briefing by the regional governor of Sofia region, Silvia Arnautska, after a meeting in the regional administration of representatives of all institutions involved in the incident.

Arnautska informed that at the moment the competent persons cannot enter the warehouses to investigate, as there are still hot spots that would endanger their lives. As long as there is a danger to people's health and life, they will not be allowed to enter the warehouses, emphasized the regional governor.

A committee was created for the residents of Gara Elin Pelin village, which describes the damage to the affected houses on the spot. Actions will be taken to provide for the people, the regional governor also said.

While there is no exact number of people whose houses have been damaged and will be compensated, there is no way to say the total value of the amount that will be received. It will be assessed whether there is a need for compensation from the Interdepartmental Commission for Disasters and Accidents at the Council of Ministers, but so far the issue has not been discussed, Silvia Arnautska pointed out. She clarified that the regional administration has nothing to do with the issued documents and permits for the warehouses for pyrotechnic products, as well as with the labor safety checks there.

Arnautska assured that the authorities have adequately done their job of informing the population. According to her, the citizens decided for themselves whether to evacuate or not. The role of the crisis headquarters and its interaction with all other services was done adequately, she stressed.

Regarding the mechanisms for preventing the abuse of state aid for the damaged houses, the mayor of Elin Pelin Ivaylo Simeonov said that all state institutions have done their job as perfectly as possible given the situation. He explained that at today's meeting they commented on the need for training and clarification of all mayors on how to be more effective in such incidents from the point of view of prevention. If the "BG Alert" is not precisely and correctly used, chaos results, for which preventive measures must be taken throughout the country, commented the mayor. According to him, such trainings are necessary and should be organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the regional administration and the Council of Ministers - so that the regional authorities are as adequate as possible. "Such an instruction should have been issued, it was issued, but the problem is that at the next moment there was not a single evacuee. This means that somewhere something is not working, so that people can have more confidence in the system and institutions", said Mayor Simeonov.

Regarding the damage, he said there were attempts by people to repair other damage to their homes that was not caused by the blasts, such as cracks in the houses. We, as professionals, will not allow this to happen, commented the mayor of Elin Pelin. The main damages are broken window frames, broken glass of the old window frames, fallen plasters. The process of describing the damage has not been completed, as there are still people who are not in their houses, informed the mayor. He explained that with the cancellation of the temporary local state of emergency, an analysis will be made, which will be handed over to the regional administration and the commission for disasters and accidents, and all these documents will be analyzed so that there are no attempts at abuse.

Mayor Ivaylo Simeonov also indicated that the partial state of emergency will be lifted when the road in the area of the incident is fully opened. There are still scattered pirates, fireworks dangerous to citizens. There is a mobilized military unit that will inspect and collect these items. However, this is a huge territory and it will take time, he added.