In a tragic accident near Sliven, a 2-year-old child and his 35-year-old mother were killed this morning when a Sofia-Burgas passenger train collided with a horse-cart at the “Debelata Koriya” railway crossing. The horse-cart was carrying five to six people. The mother and child died instantly at the scene, while the other passengers and the horse remained unharmed.

Reports indicate that the family had been collecting plastic tubes from a nearby dump to sell for food. One possible cause of the accident is that the rear part of the horse-cart, known as the tail, made contact with the train.

Stefan Ivanov, the father of the child and husband of the deceased, described the moment of the collision: “I don’t know how it happened. The train was near the bridge, about 50 meters away, and then the line started to sound. My little daughter and my wife are gone. I’m in shock. Look at my little daughter’s clothes, they were flying from behind. I can’t remember what happened and what didn’t.”

Authorities have opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision.