A tragic accident took place in central Sofia, Bulgaria, where an ex-football player ran a red light at a prominent intersection on late Tuesday night, July 5, killing two young females who were crossing the road and injuring a taxi driver has caused an intense public outrage.
The accused was arrested by police officials on Wednesday, July 6, in a special police operation. It was then found out that his licence had already been suspended, and he had more than 50 traffic violations under his name, including driving under the influence.
On Wednesday afternoon, July 7, several taxi cab drivers blocked traffic at the intersection where the incident took place. They asked for legislative changes and rigid traffic control and warned that there would be more protests if proper actions were not accepted by the officials.
According to the sources, several citizens also gathered at the site of the accident and blocked traffic to demand justice for the ones who died. Some also laid garlands in memory of the female pedestrians.
On Wednesday, the outgoing Prime Minister Kiril Petkov called the traffic accident of Tuesday a horrible crime through a Facebook post.
Petkov stated that human life is paramount and gave his sincere condolences for the two young lives lost. He further added that for years, the brutal trampling of the law and the feel of impunity have been existing in our society. This wicked thing must be ended as soon as possible, where the law is just a formality for many people, while double standards are the norm.
Bogdan Milchev, the head of the Road Safety Institute, said that an average of 20 traffic accidents take place in Sofia every night, which are covered up by the traffic police. There is also a rise in nighttime traffic accidents as there is no physical contact.