Continuing heavy snowfall forced Rousse mayor Bozhidar Iotov to declare a state of emergency in the the municipality of Rousse on the morning of January 3 2007.

Strong wind accompanies the snowfall and hinders the cleaning of the streets, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) said.

The local authorities were trying to provide access to the main social and healthcare institutions and secure the delivery of bread and basic goods to shops.

The use of personal vehicles had been forbidden. The main roads to Sofia, Varna and Silistra were closed or traffic was restricted.

The municipality had no information of people in danger, there were only several abandoned vehicles on the road to the village of Nikolovo, BNR said.

The villages of Besarbovo and Nikolovo and part of the city suburbs did not have electricity because of failures in the supplying sub-station. Access to the sub-station was impossible.

Public transport and social services vehicles traffic was difficult. The municipality will co-operate with companies and snow cleaning machines, to secure food supplies in the villages of the municipality, BGNES said.