Belarusian long-distance truck drivers blocked in Karakum desert
About 50 drivers cannot cross the borders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan due to severe frosts and snowstorms.
The unfavourable weather forced the local authorities to close the border crossing point. Hundreds of heavily loaded vehicles, also from Belarus, have been blocked in the desert for nearly a week by now. The queue of trucks spread for several kilometers, informs BELTA with a reference to the ONT TV-Channel.
The border crossing point in Kazakhstan works, but it is impossible to get there: the vehicles are covered with snow. The automobile traffic movement is being resumed eventually. 499 people have been rescued and evacuated within the period of February 1-4.
Belarusian drivers have not addressed for medical assistance. The authorities of Kazakhstan operatively deliver food to the people who got stuck in the desert. Moreover, they provide diesel fuel free of charge - approximately 150 l per vehicle.
Relatives of the Belarusian drivers who got stuck at the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan border can get all the information by the phones 8-10-7-701-517-84-40 (Embassy of Belarus to Kazakhstan). The number of the embassy for rendering urgent assistance to the Belarusian citizens in Uzbekistan is — 8-10-98-93-182-61-35. Headquarters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Uzbekistan — 8-10-98-95-601-29.
