Storm damages newly built Latvia–Belarus border fence in at least 25 places
Trees felled by last weekend's storm damaged Latvia's newly constructed border fence with Belarus in dozens of locations, a TV3 news survey found. Authorities suspect some trees may have been deliberately weakened beforehand.
The recently completed fence along Latvia's eastern border with Belarus has been damaged by last weekend's powerful storm that swept across the country, causing widespread destruction. According to a Thursday report by "TV3 ziņas," a drive along the border fence revealed damage in at least 25 separate locations.
The damage was caused by trees growing on the Belarusian side that fell across the border onto the fence structure during the storm. The broadcast noted suspicions that some of these trees may have been deliberately pre-cut or weakened in advance, so that strong wind gusts would break them and cause damage to the newly built border infrastructure.
Other infrastructure also affected
Tomass Skrimblis, deputy head of the State Border Guard's Daugavpils department, confirmed to the broadcast that the strong winds also brought down trees onto the road running along the border and onto access roads, not just the fence itself. He said the Border Guard plans to repair the resulting infrastructure damage in the near future.
As previously reported, Latvia was hit last weekend by the strongest summer storm in recent decades, which felled trees and caused other extensive damage across much of the country.
