On July 18, 2012, a bomb attack was carried out at Sarafovo Airport against a bus with Israeli tourists, killing 7 people and injuring 32.
On July 18 at 5:23 p.m., an attack was carried out at the parking lot of Burgas Sarafovo Airport in Burgas against three buses with Israeli tourists who were supposed to be transported to the “Chrysanthemum“ hotel in Sunny Beach.
The explosion severely damaged one bus and affected the other one parked next to it, Blitz.bg recalls. As a result of the explosion, the most severely affected bus and two other nearby buses were burned to the ground. The driver of the third bus, intended for the Israelis, Viktor Andonov from the Pomorie transport company “StarBus“, reacted quickly – ran to his bus, started the engine and, with the doors open, pulled it out of the parking lot before it was engulfed in flames. With his cool-headed action, he saved many people and prevented more victims.
Ofir Gendelman – A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the reports immediately spread by the media that it was a terrorist attack against Israeli citizens, with the explosive device being thrown at the bus.
A little later, reports emerged that the explosion occurred after a passenger boarded the bus, that the explosion occurred in its luggage compartment, and finally, according to the Bulgarian Interior Minister, that it occurred between two of the 3 buses waiting for the Israelis.
The attack killed 7 people: 1 Bulgarian – the bus driver Mustafa Kyosov, 36 years old, married with an 11-year-old child from the village of Yurukovo, 5 Israeli tourists from Rishon Le Zion, Petah Tikva, Acre and the bomber, 35 people were injured, 4 very seriously, 18 seriously and the rest slightly injured, one of the more lightly injured was a Bulgarian woman - an employee of the travel company “Ortana“, welcoming the Israelis.
Apart from the 3 most seriously injured Israelis, all the other 32 were immediately returned to Israel on a special Israeli plane, without being properly questioned by the Bulgarian authorities.
Immediately after the explosion, the local authorities closed Burgas airport and redirected all flights to Varna. A search of the airport for the possible presence of other bombs began. President Rosen Plevneliev, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Ministers of Health and Finance Desislava Atanasova and Simeon Dyankov arrive at the scene.
From the “Pirogov“ Military Medical Academy and the “St. Marina“-Varna specialized medical teams arrive, and Israel also sends a plane with its own specialists.
A group of Lebanese has been detained at Varna airport in connection with the explosion.
According to the Bulgarian authorities, during the investigation it was clarified that “there were no Bulgarian citizens involved in the attack“, “at least three people were “complicit” in the attack, two of whom have Australian and Canadian passports and live in Lebanon.