Essex truck deaths: Lorry registered in Bulgaria by company owned by Irish woman
The lorry carrying a container in which 39 people were found dead on October 23 in Essex is registered in Bulgaria, in Varna, in the name of a company owned by an Irish citizen.
The lorry carrying a container in which 39 people were found dead on October 23 in Essex is registered in Bulgaria, in Varna, in the name of a company owned by an Irish citizen, the Bulgarina embassy in London said.
This information was later confirmed by Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in an interview for BTV TV station. He said that the lorry (Scania) was registered in 2017 and after the registration it left Bulgaria. Since then, the lorry was never back on the territory of Bulgaria. The registration is in the name of a company owned by an Irish citizen. There are two more lorries registered in the name of the company, for which Bulgaria cannot bear responsibility, the PM added.
Similar position was expressed by the Bulgarian road hauliers. Representatives pointed out that such tragic incidents should in no way be attributed to the good image of Bulgarian international drivers. They explained that it often Western companies choose to register their lorries on Bulgarian territory because of the easier licensing regime and lower insurances they pay in our country, but in practice they do not operate in Bulgaria.
Yordan Arabadzhiev, Herad of the Bulgarian Association of International Carriers: We cannot say that this is a Bulgarian carrier. There are a few elements that are not typical of the Bulgarian transport business. First - the route - Bulgarian carriers generally do not use such vehicles, except for repatriation of cars, because they are more powerful, have higher fuel consumption and are economically unprofitable.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry issued an official statement stating that the Bulgarian government has always fought human trafficking and that prevention of and fight against human trafficking is its priority. The statement also reads that the Bulgarian diplomats are assisting their counterparts in the United Kingdom to untangle this case, to reach the truth that led to the tragic incident with the 39 people found dead in Essex.
