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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The driver of the bus that crashed near Yambol killing 16 was brought to Pirogov emergency hospital in Sofia Thursday night. Photo by BGNES
Transport companies in Bulgaria have urged for the immediate adoption of amendments to the legislation dealing with traffic in the wake of Thursday's deadly bus crash that claimed the lives of sixteen people.
The National Union of Transport Companies issued a statement, demanding, among other things, that legal amendments restrict the age of the professional drivers.
"The longer the delay in adopting these legislative changes, the more human lives will be lost in Bulgaria," reads the statement of the National Union of Transporters.
"Each crash reveals how guilty those in power are - dilapidated roads, battered cars, lax technical control," the statement adds.
It describes the technical check-ups that vehicles regularly undergo "part of the widespread corruption network".
A dilapidated bus ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians in south-eastern Bulgaria, killing at least 16 people and injuring 20 others.
Police say the driver appeared to lose control of the vehicle after its brakes failed while travelling down a mountain pass near the town of Yambol, called Bakadzhik peak.
The victims had been walking up the peak to attend a traditional Ascension Day feast and fair held on the summit.
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