The 2009 Yambol bus crash occurred on 28 May 2009 near the city of
Yambol in southeastern Bulgaria. Eighteen people died, and around twenty were injured.
[Bulgaria bus crash leaves 16 dead (BBC)](_blank)
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Crash
The victims had been walking up the Bakadzhik peak to attend a traditional Ascension Day
The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared b ...
(''Spasovden'') feast and fair held on the summit. Around 9:15 AM local time the bus, a Chavdar 11M4 operated by the Yambol transport company MCI Slavi Slavov, crashed into them while descending from the Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
Memorial Church located at the summit
The bus had been declared roadworthy on 12 May. The driver, 60-year-old Gospodin Gospodinov, was legally sober. He was seriously injured and treated at Pirogov Hospital
Pirogov Hospital ( bg, Болница Пирогов) is a hospital for active treatment and emergency medicine in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It was founded in 1951 and has a capacity of 795 hospital beds, 33 clinics and departments and emp ...
in Sofia.
Reaction
29 May was declared a national day of mourning in Bulgaria. Political parties paused their European Parliament election campaigns for the next few days.Sergei Stanishev
Sergey Dmitrievich Stanishev ( bg, Сергей Дмитриевич Станишев ; born 5 May 1966) is a Bulgarian politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He previously served as President of the Party of Eu ...
changed their schedules and visited the scene of the accident.
Investigation
Post-crash inspection revealed that the bus had numerous technical deficiencies. Its brakes provided only 23% brake force; nails, wire, and a coin were found to have been used to carry out repairs on the bus.
In 2012, bus driver Gospodin Gospodinov and bus owner Slavi Slavov were each sentenced to ten years in prison. Gospodinov died in prison a few months later, while Slavov absconded until his January 2018 capture. The workshop that declared the bus roadworthy did not face any legal consequences.8 г. след драмата на Бакаджика - един беглец и един мъртвец (dir.bg)
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See also
*2021 Bulgaria bus crash
On 23 November 2021, at 2 a.m. local time, a Macedonian bus crashed and caught fire in western Bulgaria. The accident happened on the Struma motorway near the village of Bosnek, south-west of Sofia. Fifty passengers and two drivers were on th ...
References
External links
Video PRO TV (Romanian)
Location of the accident on Google Maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yambol Bus Crash, 2009
2000s road incidents in Europe
2009 road incidents
Bus incidents in Bulgaria
May 2009 events in Europe
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
2009 disasters in Bulgaria