According to the data in the case, the car was traveling at an extremely high speed – initially about 200 km/h, and according to the indictment – about 163 km/h, with a permitted speed of 50 km/h. While driving the car, the young man used paradisiac gas by holding a bottle and inhaling the gas through balloons placed on his lap.
The 65-year-old Syrian doctor Isa Ali, who was riding in the bus, died in the accident. Four people – the driver and conductor of the bus, as well as two passengers from the car – received moderate injuries.
The court constituted as private prosecutors a relative of the deceased and the victims in the case.
One of the seriously injured – the 66-year-old bus driver Stefan Petrov – told Nova TV that at the time of the impact he was stopped at a red light and was waiting for a signal to start. He remembers only the strong impact and describes what happened as sudden and unpreventable. After the accident, he was taken to hospital with multiple injuries and fell into a medically induced coma.
In his last speech before the court, Viktor Iliev expressed regret and condolences to the relatives of the deceased and the injured, stating that he did not want the tragedy to happen.
