Two lorries crashed and caught fire early today on the Ruse-Sofia road in Veliko Tarnovo region. Both drivers died, and a bus carrying 36 passengers then hit the burning vehicles.
The 112 emergency line got a call at 2:38am. Police who arrived found the two lorries and the bus on fire.
One of the dead, a man from Ruse, was 38. The other has not been identified. He drove a lorry with foreign plates, probably Hungarian, and is most likely a foreigner. Veliko Tarnovo district prosecutor Hristo Hristov told reporters that prosecutors will ask Hungary for help, using a European investigation order.
Senior commissioner Marin Marinov, head of the Veliko Tarnovo regional police directorate, said the lorries collided first and caught fire. The bus then hit them. All passengers were evacuated, and the bus later burned down.
Prosecutors' first findings are that one lorry was driving in its own lane. The other came towards it on a bend, on wet asphalt. Its driver probably lost control and hit the first lorry. Hristov said experts and evidence must confirm this.
The bus driver is a 45-year-old man from Pleven. A second, relief driver was also on board. The driver's alcohol and drug tests were negative. The prosecutor said the relief driver managed to stop before the crash site, and the bus was hit lightly from behind.
The bus doors faced the burning lorries. So the two drivers broke the windows on the other side and got the passengers out, Hristov said.
Three people have minor injuries. No one has moderate injuries. The passengers are of different nationalities.
Prosecutors have opened a pre-trial investigation, and the cause of the crash is being established. After a first inspection of the scene, investigators are carrying out a second one and moving the vehicles to look for more traces. A vehicle technical examination and a fire examination are due. Witnesses, including passengers, are being questioned.
Investigators will ask the owner of the foreign lorry for data, including GPS records, to find out its speed, path and how it was driven before the crash. They are also checking the technical condition of the Bulgarian lorry.
The transport ministry has checked the owner company after reports that its annual technical inspection had expired. Whether this possible breach is linked to the crash is yet to be established, Hristov said.
The bus company has sent another bus to take the passengers to Sofia. Investigators are noting their complaints about missing luggage and belongings destroyed in the fire. Work with the passengers is expected to finish by the end of the day.