Viktor Orbán Offers Help to Szeklers in Rebuilding Salt Mine

The tourist section of the Praid salt mine (Parajd, Romania) was flooded overnight, with the water level now threatening the restaurant. Rescue teams are working to protect the Telegdy section, Székelyhon reported. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spoke to Hunor Kelemen, the president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania, by phone about the natural disaster and offered Hungary’s assistance.

The water flow of the nearby Korond stream reached 120 times the normal rate on Tuesday, at 0.5 cubic meters per second, and only decreased slightly afterwards. Rescue teams are working to save the Telegdy section of the mine, which was previously used as a wine cellar. Due to heavy rainfall, debris tore open the waterproof membrane laid in the riverbed, and the powerful water broke through, causing the stream to flow directly into the mine.

Mining experts say there is still a chance that production and tourism can be restarted. This is extremely important, as the vast majority of locals make their living from tourism, which is driven by the salt mine, writes Világgazdaság. In order to prevent the natural disaster from causing economic collapse in the Szekler region, the Hargita County leadership has set up a crisis team.

Székelyhon reported that the area above the salt mine, where the stream water flows into the mine, was closed because the ground had become unstable. Authorities fear that the stream bed will collapse elsewhere, which is why the bridge leading to it is guarded by officers. Locals fear that the mine will collapse and believe the problem is much worse than the authorities claim.

The general opinion is that the current situation could have been prevented if the authorities had intervened in time, since the water leak has been known for years.

There is also criticism that the National Salt Company (Salrom), which operates the mine, does not provide sufficient information about the seriousness of the situation.

Residents of the municipality in Harghita County fear that the closure of the mine will deter the tourists that Parajd and the surrounding area have relied on until now. According to László Nyágrus, Mayor of Parajd, interim solutions must be found with the involvement of experts to keep tourists in the region in the event of the salt mine’s closure, which would be possible thanks to the construction of several tourist attractions in recent years. He emphasized, however, that the salt mine is the driving force of tourism in Parajd and the region.

On May 8, a local state of emergency was declared in Parajd and extended on Friday until June 6 due to water seepage into the mine. The Hargita County Council approved EUR 79,000 in emergency aid for the municipality.

Viktor Orbán spoke on the phone with the president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ) about the dramatic situation in Parajd. The Prime Minister wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday that he assured Hunor Kelemen that the Hungarian government would provide all financial and practical assistance for assessing the damage and restoring the area.

Via Székelyhon, Világgazdaság; Featured photo via MTI/Veres Nándor