On Friday, in the wee hours of the night, after 21-year-old Viktor Iliev crashed his car into a public transport bus, it became clear that there was one victim. It turned out that this was Dr. Isa Ali. The woman next to Dr. Ali spoke to bTV. She was with him minutes before the tragedy.
Isa Ali. A doctor by training, a translator by profession. Ali arrived in Bulgaria only when he was about 20 years old. He graduated from medicine here. However, he dedicated the last years of his life to refugees.
“He translated, found accommodation for all the Syrians, helped in every way“, she says. On the fatal evening, he and the woman next to him are at home. They are having dinner. His phone rings with a plea for help.
„He said he had to go to the airport to meet some family“, she remembers. „He's leaving by bus. He didn't have the financial means and lately we couldn't afford a taxi“.
The woman expects Dr. Ali to come home a few hours later. But he's not there. She starts calling. „I've been looking for him all day - there was no answer. There were about 100 missed calls. No answer. No message“. He finds out that he's the victim hours later.
„The next day at around 6 pm. I found out from relatives. Coincidence. I mentioned that he was gone all day. I saw a Syrian citizen about 60 years old and I thought that was Issa. The woman next to him also tells that Bulgaria was his second homeland. He shares that he wanted to stay here forever. However, in the past he was investigated and arrested. And because of that he also had problems with his documents and did not have a status, says the woman next to him.
„There are allegations that I don't know if they are true, I can't prove it. He told me personally when he came home. But he did not participate as a terrorist there. He made some statements in Turkey and had problems in the National Security Agency“. “What statements - I can't say. Probably something related to the war. There is a negative assessment from the National Security Agency, it is not proven that he is a criminal, there is no evidence from the court either“.
„I accept it as an attack. Murder. Cruelty. I am afraid of the perpetrator, the murderer. He may come after me - this is a threat to me too. That is how I understand it“, says the woman. Now the woman next to the victim says she is in a vicious circle. She wants to bury her beloved. However, the body can only be handed over to his relatives. “His relatives are currently in Syria, Raqqa“.
“They don't speak Bulgarian and I can't contact them for that reason. I contact them through friends“. They can't come here from Syria. And without them - the doctor, who fled the war and died during the war on the road, can't be buried. Worthily.