Four young people died in a crash on the road between Pleven and Yasen on Thursday. Their families and friends want the road repaired urgently, guardrails installed and a fair investigation. Four white crosses now stand at the site.

This story follows our earlier report on the four young people killed on the Pleven–Yasen road. After the crash, Pleven council declared 9 October a day of mourning.

The crash happened at about 10:50pm on a slight left bend. An Opel driven by a 20-year-old left the carriageway, crossed the central reservation and went into the oncoming lane. The car overturned and hit a BMW coming the other way.

The BMW driver, 18, and his passenger, 21, died, as did the two passengers in the Opel, both 20. The Opel driver is the only survivor and is in hospital with serious injuries.

The Opel's speedometer is stuck at 139 km/h. The limit on this stretch is 70 km/h. A vehicle technical expert report will establish the real speed at impact, because the gauge reading is not final proof. Investigators must work out exactly how the crash happened and what role each factor played.

Major repairs to the road have been put off. After the crash it emerged that in 2025 the money for them was moved to the water crisis in Pleven. The delay alone does not prove a link to the crash, and the road surface and roadside equipment will be checked separately. There is also no expert finding on whether the lack of a guardrail contributed to the collision.

Ivaylo Dakov of the local automobile club wants a guardrail on this busy stretch. Ognyan Simeonov of the same club criticised the Road Infrastructure Agency because the families have still not received the answers they are waiting for. Both want the authorities to say what they will do to prevent similar crashes. Local residents are pressing for a public announcement of when construction will start.

The club is collecting donations for memorial plaques. The campaign began as help for the family of one of the victims, who cannot afford the funeral. That money was raised in about an hour, and the donations were then redirected to the plaques. Simeonov says people in Pleven responded quickly.

The club also proposes a training ground where young drivers could get extra practice and learn to control a car in aquaplaning, rain, snow and other difficult conditions.

Simeonov says the club asked the council last year for a room where it could train new drivers for free, at its own expense. The idea did not get the political support it needed, but he did not say which parties stopped it.