Bulgarian Driver in 2009 Bus Crash to Spend 10 Yrs in Prison
The driver of the bus which careered down a mountainside near Yambol in May 2009 and killed 18 people has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS).
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Sixteen people were killed and another twenty injured as a bus sliced into a throng of tourists near the town of Yambol. Photo by BGNES
The casualties, who died in a tragic bus accident in Southeastern Bulgaria on Thursday morning, have been identified and found to be citizens of the town of Yambol and the nearby villages.
Sixteen people were killed and another twenty injured as a bus sliced into a throng of tourists near the town of Yambol.
There are ten elderly women and a sixteen-year-old boy among the casualties:
Valkana Georgieva, 75, the village of Bezmer
Marijka Kalcheva, 48, the village of Voynika
Gana Ivanova, 73, the village of Alexandrovo
Bana Dimitrova, 78, the village of Voynika
Radi Minchev, 85, the village of Dragodanovo
Tsonyo Ganev, 16, the town of Yambol
Todor Dzhelebov, 74, the village of Kirilovo
Dimitar Zhekov, 78, the town of Yambol
Stoyanka Aravanova, 77, the town of Yambol
Stefanka Mandalieva, 67, the town of Yambol
Sofia Vicheva, 72, the village of Bezmer
Minka Koseva, 68, the village of Bezmer
Elena Georgieva, 67, the town of Yambol
Stoyanka Borisova, 62, the town of Yambol
Ivan Ganev, 43, the town of Yambol
Donka Todorova, 60, the town of Yambol
The tourists, gathered in the area on the occasion of the religious holiday Ascension Day, or the so called Spasovden, were climbing towards the Bakadzhik peak, when the bus, coming in the opposite direction, cut into them.
Police said a technical malfunction caused failure of the bus's brakes.
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