Bulgarian Regional Development Minister Violeta Komitova said that there was a likely leak of fuel and smoke from the Besa bus 300 meters ahead of the site of the disaster, where the bus burnt down with the loss of 45 lives.

Komitova insists that the state of the road is the main problem – the bus hit the fence of a poorly placed rest-stop area and then crashed into the left side fence where it burnt down. But, in an interview with Dnevnik, Komitova said that all attention should not be placed on the state of the road, but also on the reports that fire and smoke were noticed before the accident.

Widespread speculations were made that the bus was carrying smuggled diesel oil from Turkey, or even chemicals used to make heroin. Bulgarian authorities still haven’t disclosed the reason for the fire, or why did the bus burn so quickly and completely.