I sincerely regret and express my deepest condolences, this is a great tragedy, said Encho Dinev, accused of the accident on the "Trakia" highway, before entering the courtroom between a truck and a car, in which a man and two nine-year-old children from the "Slavia" football school died.
"I understood that the children were football players, I have worked with children for twelve years and have managed a football team", said Dinev, who is the driver of the truck.
Today he appealed the measure of detention imposed on him "detention in custody" before the Court of Appeal in Burgas.
"I want to thank these boys and the girl who helped with the extraction. For me, they are heroes. While a hundred people were watching, only they helped", said the accused.
Dinev gave advice to professional drivers, repeating his version of the cause of the accident. Everyone knows that in the summer the tires start to rumble, I thought the bumper would stop me, but it turned out to be exactly the opposite. Don't rely on the guardrail, he said.
When asked by journalists whether the truck's tires were worn out, Dinev replied: "No".
His official defense attorney, lawyer Mariyana Gardeva, stated to the media that he would appeal the imposed detention measure.
I cannot comment on the merits of the case, but we will request a change in the detention measure because I believe that at this stage there is not enough evidence collected to substantiate the assumption that the accused committed the crime for which he is being held criminally liable. In addition, there is no evidence that he could abscond or commit another crime. Therefore, we are appealing the measure "detention in custody" and we will insist that it be replaced with a lighter one – house arrest or bail, said Gardeva, informed "24 Chasa".
Asked if the defense disputes that Dinev was driving the truck, lawyer Gardeva replied: "I did not say such a circumstance. It's just that the facts and evidence collected in the case at this time are not sufficient to make a reasonable assumption that he committed the crime he is accused of".
Regarding the defendant's version of the cause of the accident, the lawyer stated that this was her client's claim. "According to him, the only cause of the traffic accident was a flat tire while driving. He claims that he tried to control the truck, but failed, as at that moment the vehicle became uncontrollable"
When asked about photos that appeared in the public domain, which allegedly show the driver with a mobile phone and a cup in his hands, Gardeva refused to comment.
At this stage, I cannot comment on something that I have not seen personally. It does not matter what is spread in the media space, until it is properly included in the case as evidence, the lawyer said.
The accident occurred on June 24 at around 1:00 p.m. at the 290th kilometer of the "Trakia" highway, in the area before the "Zimnitsa" road junction. According to the investigation, the driver of the heavy truck lost control of the vehicle, crossed the dividing barrier and entered the oncoming lane, where he hit a car traveling in the direction of Burgas.
The driver of the car and two nine-year-old children died on the spot. The other two passengers were taken to hospital with serious injuries - a 49-year-old woman and her husband - a 46-year-old coach at the school of the football club "Slavia".
On June 25, the Yambol District Court granted the prosecutor's request and ruled on the most severe measure of detention "detention in custody". According to the supervising prosecutor Zhivko Iliev, the court accepted that the collected evidence substantiates an assumption of the authorship of the act, as well as that there is a danger that the accused will abscond or commit another crime.