BELGRADE, October 30. /TASS/. The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Il-76 plane will join an effort to put out fire in eastern Serbia on Thursday, Head of the Serbian Sector for Emergency Situations Predrag Maric has said.
"Tomorrow, the Ilyushin plane will arrive from Russia to join the firefighting effort. It takes some 20 minutes to refill it, and it can carry out five or six raids in good weather conditions," Maric told TV Prva channel. The official noted that he was in touch with Russian colleagues on the issue.
Earlier, Serbia’s rescuers asked Russia to send Il-76 to extinguish the blaze. At the moment, fire continues spreading in high mountain areas. A state of emergency has been declared in a number of municipalities. Several people have been evacuated from the municipalities of Bosilegrad and Trgoviste, where fire is raging on 500 hectares.
The Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in Nis has also joined an effort on combating fires on the Stara Planina mountain and in southeast of the country. Shortly after receiving SOS signals, the humanitarian center’s forces started cooperating with the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s National Crisis Management Center in order to obtain regular information and forecasts in the mountainous areas hit by fires. The center later sends data to Serbia’s Sector for Emergency Situations.
The Stara Planina wildfire initially broke out on the Bulgarian territory and later spread to Serbia. According to Maric, the fire is raging on the territory inaccessible to cars, and firefighters have to reach the site on foot, which takes them about two hours. Heavy haze around the area hampers the use of helicopters, which is why cooperating with the aviation of the Russian Emergencies Ministry is the only option, he noted.
Currently, the firefighting effort is involving firefighters, police, forest rangers and volunteers.