It Is Not True that 1 Ton of Oil and 30.000 Firecrackers Were Smuggled In the Bus of Besa-Trans
Bulgarian prosecutors denied at a news conference that there were oil barrels in the bus. “There are versions that there were oil barrels. That version has been rejected by us. Three barrels were found but they were empty, there are remnants of oil used by the bus, and the fire did not occur from the barrels,” said Borislav Sarafov, Bulgaria’s deputy chief prosecutor. Sarafov said there was no explosion at the scene, but the loud bang was from the bus hitting the road banking. According to him, the detachment of the road banking and the scraping of the bus, which was like emery and from which there were sparks, is probably the reason why the bus caught fire. It is clear that there was no explosion, as stated in the article, which speculates that the explosion was caused by pyrotechnic material that was transported in the bus. Such claims were also denied by the agency “Besa-Trans”, whose bus burned in the fire
A Facebook post spreads speculative information regarding the tragic car accident in Bulgaria in which 45 people from Macedonia lost their lives and 7 were injured. According to the post, 30,000 firecrackers and a ton of oil were smuggled in the bus.
The article, which is shared in the post, presents unverified and unofficial information, and the media refers to “information from the investigation”.
Unofficially, there was an illegal tank with a capacity of 1000 liters of oil in the front part of the bus, which certainly contributed to this accident to turn into a tragedy, considering that the design of each vehicle when it comes to the location of the tank provides strict safety rules. But what is most shocking, and unofficially found out by Infomax, is that the bus was transporting a large amount of pyrotechnic materials that were to end up on the Macedonian market before the New Year holidays. In addition, the bus had a special warehouse for smuggling goods, and in this case pyrotechnic material or about 30 thousand firecrackers were transported, the article says.
Speculation and misinformation about oil smuggling flooded the media in Bulgaria and Macedonia, and they fueled reports that oil in Turkey was cheaper and that it was the practice of drivers from Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria to bring this oil from Turkey. The announcement we are reviewing went a step further, claiming that in addition to oil, 30,000 firecrackers were smuggled into the bus, although the firecrackers were not mentioned in any of the initial reports in the Bulgarian media. Such speculations even reached the foreign press, so the Daily Mail transmitted the allegations made by “Infomax” that pyrotechnic materials and oil were smuggled, which contributed to the fire being fatal.
Local media reports suggested that the fire started at the front of the bus after 30,000 firecrackers stored in its luggage hold exploded. – Daily Mail reports.
The next day, however, the Daily Mail, citing official sources, corrected reports of firecrackers on the bus, saying investigators did not believe such a scenario and that such information was likely untrue.
Additional statements by officials also confirm that such information is incorrect.
Allegations that oil and pyrotechnics were being smuggled into the bus were first denied by the Besa Trans agency, whose bus burned down in the fire.
As an agency, we inform the public, as well as the families of the tragically killed, that the buses did not have any luggage with oil or pyrotechnics. These are speculations by those who want to take advantage of this tragedy. The full capacity of the bus was 450 to 500 liters of oil, for use only for the needs of the bus. Once again, we ask the media not to use this misinformation, which further hurts the families, – Besa Trans said.
Macedonian Public Prosecutor Ljubomir Jovevski also pointed out to the public that there were no spare barrels in the bus in which oil was smuggled. Jovevski assessed such information as speculation and said that he saw three barrels at the scene of the accident, but they were empty and were not burned. Therefore, as Jovevski pointed out, the barrels could not be the cause of the accident.
The Minister of Interior, Oliver Spasovski, also said that he had no information that there were oil barrels in the bus.
Bulgarian prosecutors, meanwhile, held a press conference yesterday, presenting the initial findings of the investigation into the major accident. They denied that there were oil barrels on the bus.
Borislav Sarafov, Bulgaria’s deputy chief prosecutor and director of the National Investigation Service, said the main suspicion was that it was probably a human error, compounded by inadequate highway markings. Sarafov said the sidewalk where the bus driver hit was not only unnecessary on the spot, but also dangerous. There was no explosion at the scene, but the loud bang that was heard was from the bus hitting the road banking. The detachment of the road banking and the scraping of the bus, which was like emery and from which there were sparks, is probably the reason why the bus caught fire, said Sarafov.
Hence, it is clear that there was no explosion, as stated in the article we are reviewing, which speculates that the explosion was caused by pyrotechnic material that was transported in the bus.
There are versions that there were oil barrels in the bus. That version has been rejected by us. 3 tubes were found, but they were empty, there are remains of oil used by the bus, and the fire did not occur from the pipes, said Sarafov.
According to the autopsy of the Bulgarian investigators, all the passengers in the bus died of suffocation, which once again confirms that there was no explosion of pyrotechnic materials in the bus because if there was such a thing, there would be traces of the explosion on the bodies of the dead and there would be remains of explosive material. Nothing like this was found at the scene of the accident.
The autopsies are over and show that everyone died from suffocation, not from car accident injuries. They were alive at the time of the fire. The best auto-technical experts have been hired, and a fire analysis has been appointed for the intensity of the fire, said Sarafov.
Having all this in mind, it can be concluded that oil and firecrackers were not smuggled in the bus of “Besa Trans”, as it is pointed out in the article that we are analyzing. Three barrels were found at the scene, but they were empty and did not burn. There are no signs of an explosion, which means that it is not true that there was an explosion caused by the 30.000 firecrackers that were transported in the bus, as the article claims. Proof of this is the investigation which showed that all passengers died from suffocation, i.e. there were no traces of explosion on their bodies. Therefore, we assess the post we are reviewing as untrue.
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