Blagoevgrad Province

The five Macedonian snowboarders who had fallen into a furrow in Pirin were successfully rescued. They were snowboarding and skiing outside designated areas, Mountain Rescue Service (MAS) said.

Two people died after an avalanche in Pirin in the Bansko area, announced the Mountain Rescue Service at the Bulgarian Red Cross. The dead were fond of extreme winter sports and were on the western slopes of Todorka peak, reports Dnevnik.

In front of the Council of Ministers, the protests of environmentalists are resumed after the news that Marc Girardelli is the owner of the concession company of the Bansko ski area.

This morning activists came with skiing and other winter equipment in the triangle of power.

Luxembourg skiing legend Marc Girardelli's claim that he owns Bulgaria's biggest ski resort -- which environmentalists say is damaging the surrounding national park -- drew widespread scepticism in Bulgaria on Wednesday, reports AFP.

The five-time World Cup winner and four times World Ski Champion Mark Ghirardelli announced at a meeting with several ministers that he is the majority owner of Yulen AD. He showed original documents from which it could be seen that he owned 100% of Tax Services Limited, which is the majority owner of Yulen AD. This is stated in a press release from the Ministry of Environment and Water.

Blagoevgrad. Minister of Culture Boil Banov has arrived in Blagoevgrad for a meeting with Mayor Atanas Kambitov and representatives of the initiative committee for preserving the archaeological finds along the path of Struma motorway near Pokrovnik, Focus Radio has reported. The meeting is also attended by Regional Governor Biser Mihaylov.

Sandanski. Four people have been charged over the attempted robbery in the Rozhen Monastery, Blagoevgrad Regional Prosecutor's Office said. Two are adults, while the other two are 16 and 17 years old. They are charged with complicity in theft. A court hearing is scheduled for today.

Kyustendil. The Mountain Rescue Service (MRS) teams have carried out a rescue operation in search of a lost hiker in the area of Rila Monastery, the MRS told Focus News Agency. Last night, at around 8:00pm, the MRS received a call from a hiker who got lost and was unable to find his way out. He was not properly equipped and was at risk of exposure.

The eco-action for cleaning the territory of the National Park (Pirin), organized by the association For the Earth, ended today. Over nine days, over 100 volunteers from all over the country, aged nine to 55, took part in it, Denitsa Zaracinova of the Ecological Association told BTA.

A mild earthquake was registered in the area of Pirin National Park in Blagoevgrad. Said the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography (NIGGG) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
 
The earthquake was reported shortly after 18:00 and has a magnitude 2.0 on the Richter scale.
 
Its depth is 10 km.