Mayor Vadim Boychenko told the BBC on Saturday that fighting and shelling in the streets were making it difficult to get people out of the basement of a bombed-out theater in Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces, in southeast Ukraine. More than 1,000 people may be trapped under the rubble.

Boychenko explained it Rescue teams can only remove debris and bring people to the surface when the fighting has stopped.

There is tank fire, artillery and all kinds of weapons in this area. Our forces are doing everything possible to hold their positions in the city, but the enemy forces, unfortunately, are greater than ours. – said the mayor of Mariupol.

Boychenko was unable to estimate how many people were able to get them out of the bunker under the theater in the past 24 hours.. On Friday, authorities said about 130 people had surfaced, but more than 1,000 were still in the basement, which withstood the bombing.

Mir added that 40,000 people have managed to leave the besieged Mariupol on the Sea of ​​Azov in the past five days. people and 20 thousand. Others are waiting to be evacuated.