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Torrential rains that caused major flooding in southeastern Bulgaria have raised to a critical level the waters of the River Maritsa (Evros) in its Greek part. The swollen river has already worn a channel through one of the embankments and it is now gradually flooding between 2-3,000 acres of farmland near the village of Prangi.

The level of the River Maritsa has already reached 5.92 metres in the village of Pitio, the critical limit there being 5.70 metres. The local authorities and military units in the region are in a state of high alert.

"Right now the situation is under control but we are in a state of alert. In the past, we had cases of the river level reaching 6.10 metres," said Evros deputy governor Dimitris Petrovits. He added that 1,000 cubic metres of water per second are falling in the Maritsa.

Last night there was a meeting of the coordination council of the regional civil defence service. The participants decided that they will take measures to alleviate the situation if the water level exceeds 6.50 metres. The dams near Pitio will be opened to conduct a controlled flooding of a particular area in order to avoid the likelihood of the water passing over the embankment. "In no way will the implementation of the measure put at risk towns and villages," said the deputy district governor.

According to experts, the ongoing rains in southern Bulgaria do not portend an improvement of the situation. The Greek media report that the situation in Turkey is the same, because the probability of the River Martisa's feeder, Tundzha River, overflowing is very high. In view of this danger, the Turkish authorities have preventively closed two bridges to Karagatch.

The authorities in Evros have issued a warning advising that residents of the regions near the River Maritsa should approach neither it nor the embankments along it, and should remove the agricultural machinery and equipment from flood-risk areas.

The Alexandroupoli - Dikea railway traffic has been interrupted for security reasons.

To be continued.