Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov sent a Government helicopter to save a 45-year-old mountaineer who suffered a stroke in the Pirin Mountains, Bulgarian media reported on August 13.

The dramatic rescue operation, the first of its kind in Bulgaria, was ordered by Borissov himself, commissioning an aircraft from 28 Squadron. According to media reports, the helicopter was "engaged" with a World Bank delegation, but Borissov ordered the pilots to divert course towards Pirin instead, where Roumen Rachev from Veliko Turnovo was reportedly in critical condition.

Rachev was hiking near the Tevnoto Lake at about 2600m when he felt ill and suddenly collapsed. A fellow mountaineer dialed the Mountain Rescue Service (PSS) on the 1471 hotline. Once the distress call was received at the Bansko headquarters of PSS, a patrol of 20 rescuers were sent to the scene.

However, it was eventually determined that the man will have to be airlifted as "it was crucial for the body to remain as still as possible" to avoid any further complications. Moreover, it was impossible for an ambulance to reach the man so high up the mountain.

"We rang the squadron commander Pencho Penchev, requesting assistance," Milcho Hristov from the PSS said. "Borissov immediately said that the helicopter must be deployed in the rescue operation. The man has been airlifted to the Razlog hospital," Hristov said.

In a separate incident, another mountain rescue patrol evacuated a young man who had broken his leg near the Levski lodge over Kalofer.