site.btaRuse Regional Director of Fire Safety and Civil Protection: No Compromised Sections in Nikolovo Reservoir Embankment

On Friday, Commissioner Svetoslav Voychev, Director of the Regional Directorate for Fire Safety and Civil Protection, told BTA that the moisture in the soil near the Nikolovo dam wall is decreasing on both sides. This has been recorded by piezometers measuring this indicator in the reservoir near the village of Ruse.

He added that this indicates that there are no compromised sections of the wall itself, and that Thursday morning's landslide, which occurred after 200 litres per square metre of rain fell over the previous two days, is only superficial.

Ruse Mayor Pencho Milkov, reported that, according to the markers placed on the site, there has been no increase in the landslide.

"This is a good sign and means that the risk to people is also decreasing. Today, I will form a commission of engineers to evaluate the facility's condition," said Milkov, who declared a state of emergency in Nikolovo on Thursday due to the situation.

Of the approximately 1,000 people from the village who were scheduled for evacuation, 60 signed declarations of refusal. Despite transportation and accommodation being organized, most people chose to stay with relatives, according to the Ruse Municipality.

Commissioner Voychev said that the controlled reduction of the dam's water level continues, with over 46.8 million litres of water having been released in the last 13 hours. Initially, this was done at a rate of 200 litres per second, which was gradually increased.

"The level of the dam is falling, but not as quickly as we would like because we also have to control the level of the canal carrying the water away, to prevent flooding of populated areas and agricultural land. Since 8 p.m. last night, we have been draining 1,000–1,100 litres per second. The water from Nikolovo goes to the pumping station near Marten, from where we pump the water to the Danube at the same rate," added Commissioner Voychev.