Hundreds of people snowed-in, national roads blocked in North-East

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Several roads are buried under the snow in Vaslui, Botosani, Bacau and Vrancea Counties. Minister Radu Stroe wants to see the reckless drivers that disregarded the police road blocks set up in the areas affected by blizzard reprimanded. Forecasters warn over more wind storm in the same region.

Snowfalls and blizzards have taken hold of Moldavia. Roads are buried under a layer of snow up to three meters high in some areas in several counties of this region, local authorities inform. The blizzard has blocked traffic on several county and national roads. Here are the national road sectors on which traffic is blocked: National Road (DN) 11A Podu Turcului – Barlad; DN 24B Husi – Albita; DN 24C Radauti – Prut – Manoleasa; DN 26 Ganesti – Murgeni; DN 29 Botosani – Manoleasa; DN 2F Dragomiresti – Blesca (Vaslui County); DN 2N Bozga – Dumbraveni.Four ambulances were blocked yesterday in Vaslui County because of a strong blizzard. The ambulances were on their way to Perieni, Berezeni, Iana and Siliste localities. Authorities asked family doctors in those communes to give the patients there first aid until the ambulances reach their destinations. None of the cases involved patients in snowed-in cars. “We contacted county authorities in order for them to help us with snow clearing vehicles in order to reach the patients. Until that happens we called on family doctors in the communes where the patients are in order to give them first aid so that their lives are not at risk,” Aurora Popa, manager of Vaslui County’s Ambulance Service, stated.Also yesterday, fire-fighters and soldiers intervened in order to save more than 220 persons that were travelling to the Republic of Moldova on six motor coaches that were snowed-in on DN 24B, in Valea Grecului locality, nine kilometres from Husi. Fire-fighters and soldiers intervened in order to rescue the passengers that included 30 children and teenagers. “114 persons have been rescued so far and another 20 will follow.

15 soldiers, 20 Vaslui County Emergency Situations Inspectorate employees and 5 gendarmes are intervening so that the persons still left in the motor coaches will be taken away with the army’s truck in a very short time,” Maria Costea, spokesperson of the Vaslui Prefecture, stated yesterday. Defence Minister Mircea Dusa stated yesterday in Timisoara that he congratulates the soldiers that made “a special effort” in order to save the people snowed-in in the Albita border crossing area and that some structures of the Romanian state “are not appreciated at their true value.” In Neamt three ambulances did not reach patients that needed help. In Iasi dozens of people walked through the snow after their cars were snowed-in. A 25-year-old man went missing in Iasi County on Monday night, after he and two other persons helped a driver snowed-in in Dagata locality. Firefighters and policemen are looking for the man. Meteorologists issued yesterday morning a weather alert for strong wind in Botosani, Iasi, Vaslui, Vrancea and Galati counties. The alert expired at 6 PM. Meteorologists expected the wind to reach speeds of 55-60 kilometres per hour and even 75 kilometres per hour over limited areas. Ion Sandu, director of the National Meteorological Administration (ANM), announced yesterday at the crisis cell formed at the Victoria Palace that temperatures will drop significantly during the next three nights. Minimum temperatures will go as low as -20 degrees Celsius. Starting on Friday temperatures will return to their normal levels for this time of the year. The lowest temperature this year, -23.6 degrees Celsius, was registered yesterday in Dumbraveni, Sibiu County. The highest layer of snow in that county was formed at Balea Lake, where it measures 180 centimeters. At Balea Lake the risk of avalanche is at level 4 on a one-to-four grid, meteorologists inform. At the seaside the wind speed is high, the authorities deciding to close the Constanta Sud-Agigea port and the Danube – Black Sea Canal, where waves surpassed a height of five meters.

Crisis cell at the government

A crisis cell was formed yesterday at the government. On this occasion, Internal Affairs Minister Radu Stroe stated that he will propose sanctions against “irrational” drivers that broke through the police road blocks set up on roads covered by snow, including by making them pay the fuel that the rescue services used. He pointed out that the police has to implement tougher measures in order to avoid such cases. In his turn, Public Administration Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Liviu Dragnea stated that the drivers that were guilty of blocking motor coaches near the Albita border crossing should be sanctioned by having their driver’s licenses suspended. “There were people blocked in snow, unfortunately several hundreds of them, because of their own fault. I understood that several hundred persons, Moldovan citizens, were left snowed-in on eight motor coaches whose drivers ignored the traffic police roadblocks. I hope those drivers’ licenses were suspended,” Dragnea stated, pointing out that other sanctions should be applied if necessary. He asked the Defence Ministry to make available more vehicles that can be used to clear the snow.