The driver charged over the crash near Kotel that killed a 17-year-old top student from the Business High School in Burgas and a 20-year-old man is free and studying in Plovdiv, according to unconfirmed information received by the "Angels of the Road" association. The group says it learned this after a close friend of the dead girl contacted it.

"We call on the responsible institutions to officially confirm or deny this information," "Angels of the Road" said. The group wants the prosecutor's office and the court to say how far the investigation has gone.

The crash happened on 27 August 2025, at about 2:30am, on the road between the village of Gradets and Kotel. Four young people were travelling in an Audi A3. The 18-year-old driver lost control on a fairly straight stretch, and the car left the road and hit a tree.

The schoolgirl and her 20-year-old boyfriend died at the scene. The driver and the other passenger survived.

The driver was charged with causing the deaths of more than one person by negligence. The Sliven Regional Court ordered him held in custody, but less than a month later the court changed this to house arrest. Since then, very little information about the case has been made public.

After the crash, Kotel declared three days of mourning. In Burgas, the girl's classmates at the Business High School began the school year without her.

The schoolgirl had already lost both her parents. She leaves a sister, who went through those hard times with her, and who has now lost the person closest to her after their mother and father. The family of the 20-year-old man held a funeral for him.

"These are not just two more names that we read and then forget. They are somebody's children," the association said.

"Angels of the Road" asks whether the expert reports are finished and whether all the evidence has been gathered. It also wants to know whether an indictment has been filed, whether a court case has been opened and hearings set, and what restrictive measure the accused now faces.

The association says its aim is not a verdict in advance or revenge. It wants the law to be applied, the investigation not to drag on, and the families of the dead not to be left alone in their search for the truth.

"Angels of the Road" will send formal requests to the prosecutor's office, the court and the other bodies in charge of the case. The association said it will not let the issue be forgotten.