Local Bulgarian Mayor Resigns over Alleged Hit-and-Run

Society | July 7, 2012, Saturday // 14:08|  views

The Mayor of the Yuzhen (Southern) district in Bulgaria's second largest city of Plovdiv, Pavlinka Katsarova, 51, is resigning over an alleged a hit-and-run accident. Photo by BGNES

The Mayor of the Yuzhen (Southern) district in Bulgaria's second largest city of Plovdiv, Pavlinka Katsarova, 51, is resigning over an alleged hit-and-run accident.

Katsarova, who is also former Head of the Regional Education Inspectorate, will submit her resignation on Monday, according to her official statement sent to the media.

The Mayor of Plovdiv, Ivan Totev, says this is the only right decision over public tensions, created by the accident.

It happened around 6 pm Thursday evening at a key intersection of the city when, reportedly, Katsarova hit with her car two girls on a sidewalk and escaped on foot.

Totev has met with the parents of the girls who told him they were disappointed mainly from the lack of communication and of even one phone call. Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, has also spoken with the parents.

According to the press center of local police, the car, driven by Katsarova, left a parking lot with high speed and ended on the sidewalk hitting from behind two 12-year-old girls. The Mayor left the scene of the accident on foot, abandoning the automobile.

She has been found through the car's license plates and asked to appear in the 1st police precinct in Plovdiv, where she initially refused to sign a traffic accident protocol, saying she was unaware of hitting people.

Only one of the girls sustained slight injuries. She has been taken to the hospital and later released. Katsarova has been issued a citation for breaching traffic laws.

In her letter to the media, Katsarova explains her decision to resign with wishing to avoid negative effects on the image of the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, but continues to deny any involvement in a hit-and-run.

She says she ended on the sidewalk in an attempt to avoid collision with a public transportation bus, which cut her vehicle off. The Mayor insists she immediately came out of the car and asked the two girls if they were injured. Both had denied being harmed in any way thus she called her driver to take her to a meeting with citizens since she had been running late for it at that point.

"I was stunned when two hours later I received a phone call from the police notifying me the parents have filed a complaint. I did everything possible to avoid hitting people on the sidewalk. I am adamant the girls were perfectly fine, otherwise I would have stayed. I am a responsible person," Katsarova explains, vowing to appeal the citation.

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Tags: Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Interior Minister, Ivan Totev, resignation, police, accident, hit-and-run, Head of the Regional Education Inspectorate, Pavlinka Katsarova, Plovdiv, Yuzhen (Southern) district, mayor, GERB

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