Driver Ilia Izmirliev was sentenced to four years behind bars for causing the tragic bus accident in the river Lim three years ago by Bulgaria's Supreme Court of Cassation on Monday. The sentence cannot be appealed.

The Court also ruled put that the families of the 12 killed children should get compensations amounting BGN 1.2 M.

Izmirliev was sentenced for causing the hellish bus crash in the river Lim in Serbia when 12 school students drowned. He was found guilty for causing the death of Alexandra Gergova, 17, Antonia Bratova, 14, Boryana Petkova, 11, Zhenya Angelova, 11, Svetoslava Panteleeva, 12, Valentin Marinov and his brother Victor also 14, Lora Nikolova, 14, Gloria Georgieva, 11, Yulian Manzarov, 18, Svetoslav Kolev, 15 and Antoana Evtimova, 13.

The crash occurred on April 4, 2004 around 10.10 pm on the road from Bjelo Pole town to the town of Prjepole in Serbia.

Izmirliev, and the company he worked for, "Pamporovo" will have to pay to every of the killed children's families the sum of BGN 50 000.

The District Court in Veliko Tarnovo sentenced Izmirliev to seven years behind bars on March 9, 2006, but the Court of Appeals reduced the sentence to four years eight months later.

Technical reports on what caused the tragic crash are still dubious and leave many questions unanswered. Both the prosecution and the defence still haven't been able to prove whether the reason for the crash was a technical failure of the bus or the driver's negligence.

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