A car carrying migrants plunged into Lake Vaya near Burgas late last night November 6 after a half-hour police chase, leaving six people dead and four injured. The vehicle, registered in Romania, was being used to transport nine migrants from Afghanistan.
The cause of the crash was the result of an attempt to escape from law enforcement.
The incident began around 9:20 p.m. last night, when a Border Police patrol near Primorsko spotted the car and attempted to stop it using sirens and flashing lights. The driver, however, refused to pull over, triggering a high-speed pursuit.
According to Chief Commissioner, Anton Zlatanov, Director of the General Directorate of Border Police, the driver repeatedly changed direction during the chase — first heading towards Burgas, then turning back towards Sozopol, and again returning towards Burgas. “Officers followed all procedures and acted in full compliance with the safety instructions,” Zlatanov said.
“He kept changing direction. While driving towards Burgas, he turned around at the Atiya junction and headed back towards Sozopol. Then he turned again and drove once more towards Burgas. Our colleagues ahead had set up roadblocks and were prepared to stop him, but I must say they followed our instructions in the best possible way,” said Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, Director of the General Directorate of Border Police.
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The race lasted 34 minutes. The vehicle reached speeds of over 150 km/h, evading three separate police checkpoints. At two of them, spike strips were deployed, but the driver managed to avoid them by tailgating another car.
“There were three refusals to stop at three separate checkpoints, with spike strips placed at the last two,” said Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, Director of the General Directorate of Border Police. “At the first checkpoint, at the entrance to Burgas, officers couldn’t deploy the spikes in front of him because he cleverly drove extremely close to the car ahead — a vehicle with Bulgarian citizens, who fortunately were unharmed, although he even hit them from behind with his car,” Zlatanov added.
“In order to avoid injuries and prevent any risk to the lives of civilians, that particular procedure was not applied,” commented Lachezar Momchev, Director of the Regional Border Police Directorate in Burgas.
Before reaching the Burgas ring road, police deployed another set of spike strips to prevent the vehicle from entering the city.
“The driver lost control of the car as he tried to avoid the spike barrier already laid across the road. He did so deliberately and with that very intention. From that point, the vehicle became uncontrollable, leading to the tragic incident,” said Commissioner Marin Dimitrov, Head of the Traffic and Public Order Department at the Burgas Regional Police Directorate.
The car overturned into Lake Vaya, killing six migrants at the scene. Four others, including the driver, sustained minor injuries and were taken to the emergency medical department.
“All four — three adults and one minor — were examined. They underwent extensive imaging and blood tests, as well as multiple specialist consultations. No further hospital treatment was deemed necessary,” said Dr Svetoslav Todorov, neurosurgeon and Deputy Director of Burgas University Hospital.
The people smuggler, a Romanian national, has been interviewed and detained by the authorities.
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