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A day of mourning has been declared in the city of Burgas, Bulgaria, today 08 September 2014, after three people were killed in floods there in the last few days. This is the fourth time in four months that Bulgaria has been hit by deadly floods.

Bulgaria was battered by heavy rainfall from Wednesday 03 September. Floods were soon to follow and by Friday 05 September 2014 as many as 80 municipalities had been affected. The heavy rain continued through Saturday 06 September.

Three people died in the floods in the Burgas district on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. All three were drowned in the overflowing Ropotamo River. Two of the victims were in their vehicles at the time.

The areas around Harmanli and Simeonovgrad were also badly affected and authorities declared a state of emergency on Saturday 06 September. Several other cities soon followed, including Primorsko, Dimitrovgrad, Radnevo and Misia. Local media say that more than 1,000 people were evacuated in Haskovo province during the floods.

In a response to the recent floods, caretaker Interior Minister Yordan Bakalov suggested that local authorities in Bulgaria have done little to prevent floods, such as improving drainage. According to local media, he said that sanctions could be imposed on those municipalities failing to carry out prevention activities against floods.