Donetsk, Apr 14 - DAN. The number of temporary accommodation centers in the Donetsk People’s Republic Novoazovsky district has been cut to four as the number of refugees decreased, first deputy head of the district administration Bogdan Perepechai told the Donetsk News Agency on Thursday.

“The wave (of refugees) has now passed,” Perepechai said. “The flow has decreased because we were able to enter the outlying districts of Mariupol and deliver foodstuffs there. The people (who did not evacuate - eds Donetsk News Agency) largely want to stay back.”

The district ran 18 temporary accommodation centers (PVR) at the highest refugee influx. They were set up at schools and Culture Palaces; the authorities also made a tent camp. The four centers currently accommodate at least 1,000 people, he added.

Earlier reports said that as of the beginning of this week, more than 53,000 refugees had passed PVRs and the filter point in the Novoazovsky district. Most of them were evacuated from the assembly points in the Sartana settlement and Vinogradnoye village located in the outskirts of Mariupol; others evacuated on their own.*jk