The police have detained for 24 hours the two drivers of the bus that overturned this morning near the border with Malko Tarnovo. Two women died in the accident, and nine others were admitted to the hospital with various injuries.
The arrest of the two drivers is necessary to establish all the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. Their tests for alcohol and drugs were negative, confirmed to BNT by the director of the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior - Burgas, Nikolay Nenkov.
There were a total of 39 people on the bus – two drivers, a tour operator, and 36 passengers, mainly women and children from Ukraine. They had set off on an excursion from Odessa to Istanbul. About 4 km from the GKP Malko Tarnovo, the vehicle ran out of fuel. The driver pulled over to the side of the road so as not to obstruct traffic on the narrow two-lane road and went on foot to the nearby gas station to get fuel.
After being refueled, the vehicle suddenly went backwards and rolled down into the ravine alongside the road. According to eyewitness accounts, the two women who died were inside the bus. Some of the passengers were outside of it at the time of the incident and were not injured.
The investigation into the exact causes of the tragic incident continues.