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With the questioning of a witness and the hearing of experts, the case against Ivan Kostov continued today, which claimed the lives of three people in a violent accident on the Plovdiv – Asenovgrad road, a journalist said Plovdiv24.bg.
The accident occurred on May 5, 2019, and according to the state indictment, Kostov violated traffic rules while driving his Mercedes ML 270 SUV. He drove into the oncoming lane, lost control of the vehicle and crashed head-on at a speed of 80 km/h “Toyota” on the way to Asenovgrad. Stoyan Gechkov (66), Verginia Chausheva (63) and Roza Abadzhieva (42) died as a result of the accident.
If 73-year-old Kostov is found guilty, the law provides for 3 to 15 years’ imprisonment for such an act.
Today, Krasimir Ketev, who was driving behind the defendant’s car and witnessed the accident, testified first. “The Mercedes jeep was moving 30-40 meters in front of me. I was driving at about 70 km/h and he was over 80 km/h. He was much faster than me and the distance between the two cars was constantly increasing”, he said in the Ketev courtroom. Next, he saw how the car driven by Ivan Kostov suddenly entered the oncoming lane and hit the guardrail.
A forensic medical examination prepared by two medical experts was accepted after him. They were adamant that caffeinated beverages could in no way affect the actions of the drugs the defendant was taking.
Furthermore, the doctors confirmed that there is no way to prove that Ivan Kostov suffered from syncope, a temporary loss of consciousness followed by spontaneous and rapid recovery, as claimed by the defense.
“Usually syncope has earlier (warning) symptoms. It most often occurs when blood pressure is too low, as well as with a low heart rate, but it is not possible to form a general opinion for all people. For example, some top athletes have a low heart rate (40). For them this is normal, but for other individuals it can be fatal,” the doctors also said.
Subsequently, it became clear that when the medical team arrived at the scene of the accident, Ivan Kostov was examined and his blood pressure was 140/80.
However, due to professional commitments, the experts who prepared the complex psychiatric and forensic psychological report were absent from today’s meeting. Since the defendant’s lawyers wanted to ask them some questions, this will take place at the next hearing, scheduled for February 7, 2023 at 1.30 pm. Then the defendant Ivan Kostov is expected to speak before the court for the first time about the tragedy that happened more than 3 years ago.
