Europe Asia News

The incident occurred early Wednesday morning in the Ribarska Cheshma area. The saturated ground gave way, sending tons of soil and concrete foundation downhill. Mayor Genchev told local media, “A large mass of soil is sliding down along with the base of the structure — the house is literally hanging in the air.” The first alarm was raised around 6:30 a.m. on Emanuil Chakarov Street after residents heard a loud noise.

Authorities immediately began evacuating people from nearby houses. A 60-year-old woman and a family of five were safely relocated to municipal housing. During the woman’s evacuation, one of her house’s walls collapsed, and the structure was completely destroyed. The mayor explained that both affected houses were old and structurally weakened, and their foundations were likely damaged by the heavy rainfall that exceeded 70 liters per square meter over the past two days. As a safety measure, electricity in the area was cut off.

According to the local Hydro-Meteorological Station, 4.6 liters of rain per square meter fell in the past 24 hours, with 51 liters recorded in just 12 hours — close to the regional monthly average of 60–80 liters. Residents were warned on social media of an additional 40 liters of expected rainfall per square meter.