Spokesperson of Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General Office, Siika Mileva, said the preliminary investigation into the bus crash on the Struma highway that killed 46 people has stopped. According to MIA’s Sofia correspondent, Mileva told BNT the reason for this is because Bulgarian prosecutors have asked their counterparts in Macedonia for further questioning. Mileva said the investigation so far has established new facts related to what had happened during the fatal night.

On the night of November 23, 2021, the bus burned completely, but because of the four tubes of gasoline that the Macedonian driver was transporting. They are not the cause because they have remained intact. The safety fence closed the door in front of which the passengers gathered and tried desperately to get out of the burning bus.

Mileva said that for her it was a huge tragedy, which will be remembered. This is an unprecedented and unique case in history. The investigation of the accident scene lasted more than 24 hours, starting in the dark, early morning of the day of the incident and ending at night. Six investigators and three prosecutors worked on the case, and the collection of evidence was completed in just 10 days, Mileva commented and said that it is a precedent for the Prosecutor’s Office to return the bodies of the dead by plane.

All found items were returned, and each item was sealed separately. 45 autopsies were performed. Biological material was taken from all of them, from which the DNA profile was extracted. With a request for legal assistance to the judicial authorities in the Republic of Macedonia, the heirs of the victims were also identified, from whom DNA was also taken, added Mileva.

The spokesperson of Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General Office said that the pre-investigation procedure is currently stopped because a second request for legal assistance has been prepared to the Macedonian investigators. According to her, survivors of the accident and relatives of the dead should be summoned for questioning.