site.btaGroup of Bulgarian Artists, Writers Stranded in Tel Aviv Say They Are Safe following Second Night of Israel-Iran Missile Exchange

The group of 13 Bulgarian artists and writers currently stranded in Tel Aviv have said they are safe following a second night of missile exchanges between Iran and Israel.

“We are doing well, but it was a rough night. We spent several hours in a bomb shelter. Around 2:45 a.m., a missile hit a nearby building with such a loud explosion that it really frightened us,” poet Angela Dimcheva told the Bulgarian News Agency.

Radio host Dimitrina Kyurkchieva added that a multi-storey residential building located just two kilometers from their hotel was hit.

“The blast was terrifying and the shock wave blew the lid off the air duct in our shelter. I thought we had been hit,” Kyurkchieva said.

The group, which is in Tel Aviv for the 10th Bulgarian Soul of the Holy Land International Festival, includes Snezhana Galcheva, head of the Confederation of Bulgarian Cultural Organizations and Activists Abroad (BCOAA); Mira Koparanov, BCOAA coordinator for Canada; Union of Bulgarian Writers chairperson Boyan Angelov; poet Angela Dimcheva; Bulgarian National Radio host Dimitrina Kyurkchieva; poet Ekaterina Gluhova; artist Dragomir Mirchev; and members of the team behind the Bulgarian feature film Don't Close Your Eyes - director Nikolay Egermann and screenwriter Martin Ralchevski. Raina Mandzhukova, Executive Director of the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, is also with the group. The festival was originally scheduled to run through June 16. However, due to the military situation, parts of its programme have been suspended.