The survivors of the overturned bus near Malo Tarnovo set off back to Ukraine this morning. For the last two days, they had been accommodated in a hotel while arrangements were made for their transport to their homes.
Four members of the group will remain for treatment in various hospitals in Burgas until their full recovery. Some of them have undergone surgery, and Ukrainians living in Burgas have donated blood free of charge to help the victims.
How did the accident happen?
The group departed from Odesa on Tuesday morning for an excursion to Istanbul. In the early hours of Wednesday, about 4 km from the border near Malo Tarnovo, the bus ran out of fuel. The driver pulled off the road to look for diesel.
After the bus had been refueled, the driver started the engine but stepped out to collect tools. The tragic mistake was that he left the vehicle in neutral and without the handbrake engaged. For this reason, the bus rolled backward and overturned into a roadside ravine.
Two women died at the scene, and nine people were injured in the incident.
Heroism and Justice
Border police officer Ivelin Arbadzhiev was the first to arrive to help. He showed exceptional heroism, managing to pull out almost all the passengers who were trapped in the crushed vehicle, which was clinging to a tree to prevent it from falling into the ravine.
At the moment, the driver faces charges of causing death through negligence. The District Court in Burgas will consider the measure of pretrial detention, and he faces a sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison.