Bulgarian Ill-Fated Enturtrans Bus Company Out of Operation

Ivaylo Moskovski was sworn in as Bulgaria's Transport Minister less than a month ago. Photo by BGNES

The Enturtrans company, which leased the ill-fated bus that killed eight passengers during a highway crash in Bulgaria, does not have a license to operate as a carrier anymore.

The information was announced by Transport and Communications Minister, Ivaylo Moskovski, who said in a Thursday interview for the TV channel bTV that the license has been revoked and the last run of an Enturtrans bus happened overnight because there were tickets sold in advance.

Automobiles of the Bulgarian State Vehicle Inspection (DAI) escorted the bus all the way to Burgas to make sure another incident would not happen.

The Minister said the company had over ten citations for violations with DAI failing to act on them. Moskovski fired the DAI management Wednesday after the news about the hellish crash broke headlines.

An Enturtrans bus, travelling from the capital Sofia to the Black Sea city of Burgas overturned on Trakiya highway, near the second largest city of Plovdiv, in the wee hours Wednesday, killing 8 and injuring 18, two of them in critical condition.

In the TV interview, Moskovski assured that in the upcoming days he will propose a debate between experts and bus companies to introduce restrictions on the age of buses which service busy lines, adding such proposal had been submitted to the Parliament months ago, but it had not been passed yet.

The Minister pointed out control is a more important problem that age of the vehicles and restricting this age is not a European practice.

"But, the roads in Bulgaria and the behavior of the drivers are not the same as in Europe either," Moskovski pointed out.

The Minister further announced that seatbelts for bus passengers will become mandatory while mail boxes will be installed at all major bus stations where passengers will be able to drop complaints or information about violations.

Thursday is declared a Day of Mourning in Bulgaria for the victims of the crash.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!