People living in Bulgarian towns located in the Danube River region were warned to avoid using the river water because of the oil spill floating in the Bulgarian part of the river.

The oil spill could not harm the health of people, representatives of the Disaster Management Ministry said. The spill had low density and was located nearly 300 m away from the shore in the Lom region, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported.

Other oil spills were entering the Bulgarian part of the Danube as well, representatives of the State Agency for Civil Protection said.

The oil spill was nearly 150 m wide and its density was 50 per cent, BTA reported.

People living close to the river were warned to avoid drinking the water or fishing in the river.

It is still unclear what the source of pollution was and where the oil spill came from, BTA said.