RIGA, Jan 23 (LETA) - Of the 552 examined facilities that could be used as emergency shelters, 377 have been found to be safe, LETA was told at the press office of Riga City Council.

These premises have room for around 200,000 people. The population of Riga is about thrice as large.

At present, 32 locations in Riga have been designated as shelters, but the process continues, the local authority said.

Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) inspected the situation with shelters in Riga on Thursday. Together with senior municipal officials, the minister visited several of the facilities designated emergency shelters.

According to the minister, the number of shelters that have been surveyed in Latvia and their territorial coverage is currently "very good". The capacity of the premises that can be used as emergency shelters is around half a million people.

"The next step after identifying the shelters is to mark them so that it is clear to the people where the shelters are located," the minister said.

As it adopted the municipal budget for this year, the Riga City Council increased funding for civil protection around sixfold to EUR 2.5 million. Of this amount, around EUR 1.5 million are earmarked for the construction, renovation and conversion of premises that could be used as emergency shelters.