Each exercise leads to an improvement in the coordination and capabilities of the different units, and the basis of any emergency rescue activity is good coordination to reduce response times. This was said by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Zhivko Petrov during an exercise "Search and rescue in case of an aviation accident and liquidation of its consequences along the coastal strip - SAREX-24", held on the territory of Ruse region - "Stulpishte" area (along the R. Danube).
The purpose of the exercise is to test and improve the training of officers in assessing the situation and making decisions in the event of a plane crash. "The area was chosen to make the situation complex enough. The terrain is rugged, there are hills, heights, the approaches are not level, the streets are narrow and the river further complicates the activity," Deputy Minister Petrov stressed. He pointed out that the water component is also being worked out in this way with cutters, divers and a naval helicopter.
"The aim is to make the worst possible scenario to play out the interaction and coordination so that in a real incident, the institutions react in the same way," the deputy transport minister added. In his words, in case of a complicated situation during an accident, the actions will be combined with assistance from the Romanian side. Zhivko Petrov added that there are plans for an even larger-scale exercise with the rescue of a shipwreck on the Danube.
Teams and duty centres of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Health, the General Directorate "Civil Aviation Administration", the State Enterprise "Air Traffic Control", the Executive Agency "Maritime Administration", the Executive Agency "Study and Maintenance of the Danube River", the Regional Administration - Ruse, the Bulgarian Red Cross, volunteer groups, etc. took part in the joint exercise.
