The deadly race in Sofia, which took the lives of four people, raises new questions about the incident. The firefighters who were first at the scene of the accident on "Chelopeshko Shose", talk about their actions after the impact.
„The duty was going on quite normally until we heard a loud bang. Something unusual for the area. All of us colleagues looked at each other. We realized that something was wrong. We left the fire station and saw an overturned public transport bus in the distance. We immediately got into the fire truck and headed towards the accident“, says Blagoy Blagoev from “Fire Safety and Population Protection“.
According to him, when the team arrived, there was already a fire in the bus, and around it - injured people.
“We went to the scene - what did we see? The bus was already on fire - injured people around it. So bad that they couldn't evacuate themselves“, says Blagoy Blagoev.
Danail Vlahov from “Fire Safety and Population Protection“ points out that the teams have started extinguishing the fire, and in parallel with this, the evacuation of people has also begun.
“We started extinguishing the fire. During this time, the colleague began to evacuate the people who had retreated from the fire scene to the rear sector of the bus. After we extinguished the fire, we began to remove the remaining people from the rear sector who were seriously injured - broken legs, arms," says Danail Vlahov.
„We had to pull them out through the bus hatches. The bus was on its side. There was no other option," he adds.
According to Blagoy Blagoev, there was a great danger if the fire was not brought under control immediately.
„There was a great danger if we had not immediately started extinguishing the vehicle, the bus would also catch fire. It runs on gas. One of our colleagues, while we were removing the injured, turned off the bus's ground switch. "The power went out in it," he says.
Blagoev also talks about the driver's condition after the accident.
„The driver was in shock from the situation. He didn't know how many people were there or what was going on. What went through his mind like a normal and ordinary person, and he knew that there were victims - he broke the front window, got out, and self-evacuated. He helped two women - one younger and one older," says Blagoy Blagoev.
Danail Vlahov points out that there were many people from the neighborhood at the scene.
„There were many spectators from the neighborhood. They were more of a hindrance than a help. They were aggressive, yelling, fighting, insulting the driver“, he says.
When asked if they helped the driver, Vlahov answers: “He, the driver, was around us to be away from them“.
“Yes, several times. I made remarks that they were interfering with us and the ambulances. They were yelling and screaming“, says Danail Vlahov.
“Vocation – part of life. We also have this fear, but teamwork, adrenaline and the fact that someone is waiting for us to help them make us brave and calm“, shares Blagoy Blagoev.