A tragic incident has caused serious tension in Novi Iskar. An elderly woman was crushed by a tanker truck that drove off as she passed the cab of the tractor. Locals have been protesting for years against the passage of trucks through the “Gnilyane” neighborhood in the city, but to no avail. Victims of heavy truck traffic are demanding measures to prevent another fatal accident.
“My grandmother was hit on her way to work. She lost her life in a rather ridiculous way. It was her last working day,” the granddaughter of the deceased shared in “Hello, Bulgaria.”
Her husband emphasized that the tanker had stopped illegally in the center of the neighborhood and – if there had not been a passerby who shouted to the driver and stood in front of the truck, the tanker would not have stopped after running over the elderly woman.
A resident of the neighborhood said that complaints against the heavy traffic through the center of the neighborhood were filed back in 2012. A petition was also signed demanding that the trucks be redirected. “Our houses are shaking from the traffic. We can’t sleep. But there was no result. The answer from the Sofia Municipality was that they cannot close "Hristo Botev" Street, because they also have to stop the "Chistota" trucks, the woman explained.
Other residents of the neighborhood demanded urgent measures and the removal of heavy traffic from the center of the neighborhood.
“The problem is serious. It has been around for about 15 years. I really sympathize with the residents of the neighborhood. But the solution to this problem has been in the works for quite a long time. There is a project that is being worked on to remove heavy traffic along an alternative route. But the procedure is difficult and long. The project is in the process of being coordinated with various institutions. I hope that funding will then be found, because this is an expensive infrastructure project,” said the mayor of Novi Iskar Vladislav Vladimirov.