Bulgarians Rally over Snubbed State Aid Pleas after Pernik Earthquake

Many residents of Pernik saw their homes badly damaged after the May 22, 2012, earthquake. Photo by BGNES

Some 200 local residents besieged Tuesday the municipality building in the Western Bulgarian city of Pernik with demands for compensations for damages from the May 22, 2012, earthquake.

The 5.8-6.0-magnitude earthquake was the strongest in Bulgaria in years, and damages homes in Pernik as well as the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

The protesters who rallied on Tuesday have received negative answers from the authorities to their requests for compensations over the earthquake damages.

They have now demanded new appraisals of the damages so that they can get compensations from the state, bTV reported.

Many of those whose homes were damaged have been waiting for 9 months now to get some state assistance to fix their roofs and walls, which is why the organizers of the protest rally staged a workshop to explain to those affected how to protect their rights.

"A total of 4 403 aid requests have been completely turned down; about 3 000 requests will be granted aid but that will be worth about 50% less than the worth of the damages as estimated by the appraisers," explained Valentin Peshev, organizer of the protest.

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