site.btaMap Shows 247 Bomb Shelters in Bulgaria, 18 of Them Functional

The war in the Middle East has prompted many European countries to address the condition of their bomb shelters. Bulgaria is no exception. Last week, the University Rescue Squad (URS), a member of the Bulgarian Youth Red Cross, published a map of civil defence and fallout shelters in the country, which was covered in the media. The map is intended to raise public awareness of the existence and location of these facilities.

According to fire service data, the country has 247 civil defence and fallout shelters, but only 18 of them are ready to use for the purposes they were designed for. The rest can be made functional within a week. There is a person officially in charge of each shelter, who should take care of its maintenance. A passport is kept on each facility, and the fire service is supposed to conduct inspections twice annually.

Ten of Sofia's 92 shelters have been overhauled in the last two years, City Hall says. Renovation is beginning at another six, and the rest are set to be repaired within four years. They are often housed in schools and kindergartens.

"Some shelters are known to the public but are not included on the official list. This is so because they are not placed in the charge of the fire service but are privately owned," says URS volunteer Radinel Pargov, who compiled the map. According to him, a private shelter can be used by anyone in the area but is under a private building.

Many settlements and some parts of Sofia have no civil defence and fallout shelters. Pargov notes that the largest shelter in the capital is the underground railway, the Metro, which can accommodate more than 900,000 people. The National Palace of Culture in downtown Sofia, as well as underground parking garages and tunnels can be used for that purpose as well.