VIDEO The first images of the evacuations from Ceatalchioi. People are transported to Tulcea by minibuses

The authorities announced that they began the evacuation of the village of Ceatalchioi on Monday afternoon, after they evacuated the village of Plauru in the morning, due to the imminent danger of an explosion arising from the fire on the fuel ship anchored on the Ukrainian bank of the Danube, following Russian drone attacks against Ukraine. Another 40 people were evacuated, being transported to Tulcea.

“Up to this moment, approximately 40 people have been evacuated from the town of Ceatalchioi. They are being transported to the municipality of Tulcea with the minibuses provided by the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the local authorities,” announced ISU Tulcea.

“The intervention forces are still present on the spot and are acting for the permanent monitoring of the situation, as well as for the evacuation of all the people in the risk area”, specified the representatives of ISU Tulcea, according to an update sent by the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU).

On Monday morning, the County Committee for Emergency Situations (CJSU) Tulcea decided to evacuate people from the village of Plauru, as a preventive measure, and according to the mayor of Ceatalchioi, Tudor Cernega, 18 people, including three children, were evacuated from the town across the Danube from the Ukrainian port of Ismail, where the ship in danger of explosion is anchored.

“Tonight (Sunday to Monday night, no), a drone hit some LPG trucks, and the flame reached 300 meters high. One truck exploded, the substance from the truck reached another and they exploded in turn. People were scared. Pieces of bodywork reached us on the shore, in people's houses. They were scared,” the mayor of the Ceatalchioi commune, Tudor Cernega, told the media, quoted by Agerpres.

“17, 18 people were evacuated. We have a place to put those from the village of Plauru. They can also stay at my place. (…) I have always said, things must be looked at more seriously and preventive measures taken. Now I am thinking about the county road. It could not be resolved even now. We are the most affected area. In case of evacuation, they will break their cars”, said the mayor of Cernega during the morning.

The commune of Ceatalchioi has approximately 500 inhabitants, and the locality where the commune resides has approximately 200 people.

The Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (ISU) Delta has made more than 10 means of transport available to people who have to evacuate the village of Ceatalchioi, but the action is being carried out with difficulty, because people do not want to leave their households behind.

“A large part of the population managed to evacuate with their own means. The second stage of the action is the evacuation with means belonging to ISU Delta. It is quite difficult. People are elderly and do not want to leave their households. Six families were evacuated. We have more than 10 means of transporting people, and at our request, ISU Delta and the Tulcea County Prefecture, the ferry will not suspend its activity during the night,” he said, for the press agency quoted the chief inspector of ISU Delta, Daniel Petrov.

During Monday, the population of the village of Ceatalchioi received Ro-Alert messages in which they were informed that they had to evacuate the town, as it was at the limit of the danger represented by the explosion of the ship loaded with fuel.

The County Committee for Emergency Situations decided, on Monday morning, to evacuate the village of Plauru and suspend road and naval traffic on the Chilia arm of the Danube. The train that was supposed to leave Tulcea for the village of Periprava on Monday afternoon, with three tons of strictly necessary food on board, remained anchored in the port of Tulcea.

Arafat: The impact of a possible explosion can be on a radius of 4-5 kilometers

The impact of a possible explosion of the LPG ship on fire on the territory of Ukraine can be in a radius of 4-5 kilometers, and the citizens of two villages in the Danube Delta are evacuated, they will be taken to the municipality of Tulcea and they will be provided with accommodation, said, earlier on Monday, the head of DSU, Raed Arafat.

“The ship still has a fire on board. The amount of gas is very large, according to some simulations that were made in the event of an explosion, there may be an impact on a radius of 4.5-5 km, according to the calculations made by experts. So to be more preventive and on the safe side, Ceatalchioi is also evacuated. The population will be taken to Tulcea, accommodation provided and everything according to the decision of the County Committee for Emergency Situations”, he specified Raed Arafat, in an intervention on Antena 3.

According to it, when the risk decreases and there is no more danger, people will return home.

“It may be a matter of a few hours, or at most until tomorrow, until the situation of the ship is clarified, which has a fire on board and, as I said, it has a large amount, we are talking about 4,400 tons of gas, which are now burning at the exit from the valves. You can see how the gas that comes out is burning, but still there is a risk, if it heats up or if the area where the gas is stored heats up, that there will be an explosion. This is what the experts believe, so the decision ours is to stay on the side of prevention and not take any risks with the population,” Raed Arafat also said.

The head of the DSU stated that he is in contact with the Ukrainian authorities, and the current situation requires the evacuation of Plauru and Ceatalchioi. “It's a preventive evacuation, we've evacuated many more, we've evacuated 1,000 people and 1,500, so it's a matter that can be managed by the authorities in Tulcea county, without any problem,” added Arafat.

A ship loaded with LPG was engulfed in flames in the area of ​​the Ukrainian city of Ismail, near the border with Romania, following a drone attack carried out last night on the territory of Ukraine.