Criminal recklessness of employees of the Bulgarian State Railroad Company, BDZ, caused the Monday derailment of three cars of the express train between the capital Sofia and the Black Sea city of Burgas.

The information was reported Tuesday by Transport Minister, Aleksander Tsvetkov, saying the employees, who risked the life of passengers, would face both administrative and legal penalties, but failing to offer more details.

The Minister has ordered a full check of the BDZ safety systems, the quality of repair works, and the responsibilities of different employees.

Tsvetkov further pointed out the BDZ CEO, Pencho Popov, would be dismissed if the probe founds him responsible.

Popov declared Monday, in the incident's aftermath, he was resigning, but later recanted the statement telling media he said he was ready to resign if it turns out the derailment was caused by human error.

Tsvetkov explained the derailed train had a safety certificate, pointing out the pressure endured by BDZ over the certificates has nothing to do with safety.

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