Train Crash Leaves 19 Injured in Bulgaria

Further investigations are carried out at the scene of the crash between a Bulgarian BDZ company train and an international Belgrade-Sofia train. Photo by BGNES

The clash between the two trains at Dragoil station, located between the town of Dragoman and the border cross point between Bulgarian and Serbia, has left 19 injured.

The accident occurred shortly before 8 am, about 4 km from the border on Bulgarian territory, when an international train from Belgrade to Sofia clashed with a small company train, consisting of one locomotive and one wagon.

The company train has been carrying employees of the Bulgarian state railroad company BDZ.

Casualties have not been reported. However 19 people have been hospitalized. Among them is the motorman of the Serbian train and two more passengers.

One of the injured women from the Bulgarian train has been released for home treatment.

The injured have been provided with medical treatment in hospitals in Sofia. Teams from the Bulgarian Civil Defence and Transport Police have arrived at the scene of the accident.

BDZ has announced that 90 people have been traveling with the international train Belgrade-Sofia. The company has not announced the number of people traveling with the Bulgarian company train.

The collision between the two trains has happened at 50 km/h.

The accident happened when the international train, while leaving the Dragoil station, hit the company train.

Since the crash occurred on a straight sector, the two drivers managed to decrease the speed. The head-on collision has not caused derailment of wagons.

According to the Bulgarian Deputy Interior Minister, Veselin Vuchkov, the cause of the crash is a mistake by the person who coordinated the traffic.

The Executive Director of BDZ, Pencho Popov, has announced that there were damages on the trains's wagons.

"A subjective human mistake was the reason for the accident," he said on Monday in an itnerview for the Bulgarian private TV channel bTV.

In his words, the motorman of the Serbian train was not guilty, but the train has not been placed correctly.

Further investigations are carried out at the place of the crash.

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