The Burgas Court of Appeal has increased the sentence of Syrian citizen Omar Adnan, who caused a crash that killed two police officers in Burgas in 2022, from 20 years in prison to life imprisonment under an initial special regime.
The court ruled that the original sentence did not adequately reflect the seriousness of the crime. Its decision is not final and can be appealed or challenged before the Supreme Court of Cassation.
The fatal incident occurred in the early hours of August 25, 2022, at the Trapezitsa intersection, one of the busiest junctions in Burgas. Adnan, who was 18 at the time, was driving a passenger bus carrying migrants toward the city. The vehicle had 47 passengers on board, including women and children, who had illegally crossed the Bulgarian border from Turkey.
According to the case materials, 47 of the migrants had boarded the bus on August 24 in the Malko Tarnovo area. As the bus traveled toward Burgas, the driver ignored two stop signals from border police officers using a stop baton.
Police officers then pursued the vehicle toward Burgas. Once the bus entered the city, the border police contacted their colleagues from the Burgas police department and asked them to help stop it.
