Bulgarian mayor sprinkles sugar on roads to ward off crashes


A Bulgarian mayor has ordered that the roads be sprinkled with sugar to ward off 'evil' and stop a recent increase in traffic accidents, saying "Due to the rising number of deadly road accidents in the municipality, Mayor Nikolay Grozev ordered the major roads to be sprinkled with 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of sugar," in a statement released this week from his office in Nova Zagora, in southeastern Bulgaria."The initiative is based on an ancient legend according to which dusting roads with sugar will chase away evil omens," it added.Public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television showed Grozev, armed with a packet of sugar, powdering a road.Four people, including two children, died and another six were injured in road accidents in the area in recent weeks.