Bulgaria Court Begins Deadly Bus Accident Trial

In May, a bus careered down a mountainside called Bakadzhik Peak and plowed through a crowd of pedestrians killing 18. Photo by BGNES

The District Court in the southern city of Yambol began Monday the trial in the case of the deadly bus accident in May 2009.

The case involves the death of 18 people caused by a bus careering down a mountainside near Yambol, called Bakadzhik Peak ,and plowing through a crowd of pedestrians heading to a religious festival.

The Defense Council began the trial by requesting the withdrawal of all Yambol magistrates and moving the case to another court with the motive almost all Yambol residents have a close-one who has been affected by the tragedy. The other motive, according to the lawyers, is the wide media coverage in the city.

The Court rejected the request as unfounded.

40 heirs of the victims have claimed monetary compensations from the defendants - the owner of the carrier company, Slavi Slavov and the driver, Gospodin Gospodinov.

Slavov is charged with causing death due to recklessness while Gospodinov - with violating traffic laws. The technical probe found that the bus breaks did not work properly and failed. The driver had a 0,66 blood alcohol level and had been driving too fast for the steep terrain.

The trail is scheduled to initially last five consecutive days. The magistrates began hearing testimony Monday. About 50 people are expected to take the witness stand

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