The investigation into the causes that led to the death of a child during a football training session at the “Dunav” sports complex in Ruse, two years ago, is to be reopened. A three-judge panel of the Appeals Court in Veliko Tarnovo confirmed the decision of the Ruse District Court to annul the order of the supervising prosecutor from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Ruse to terminate the criminal proceedings.
In summer 2023, a sudden thunderstorm swept over Ruse. At that time, during a training session on one of the municipal sports grounds, which has been operated under concession by the company “RDS Invest,” owned by the well-known surgeon Simeon Simeonov, lightning struck two children who were running to take shelter. One of them died shortly after the incident. Immediately following the tragedy, the Ruse Municipality ordered an investigation, and the district prosecutor’s office initiated proceedings to find out who was responsible for this tragic death.
During the investigation, it became clear that none of the installed lightning rods was operating correctly on the day of the incident. Against this backdrop, an article by “Za Istinata” (For the truth) disclosed internal communication addressed to Ruse Mayor Pencho Milkov (BSLP) from the director of the municipal “Sports Facilities” enterprise. The exchanged correspondence revealed that Milkov’s administration had known about the problem with malfunctioning or entirely missing lightning protection systems at several sports grounds in Ruse since 2021. Nevertheless, no timely measures had been taken.
A few days before Christmas last year, the supervising prosecutor in the case, Radoslav Gradev, ordered the investigation into the child’s death to be terminated. The stated reason — no crime was established.
“In the beginning of February, Nora Vutova, the mother of the deceased child, told Nova TV: ‘I received ten pages from the prosecutor’s office detailing the violations identified during the investigation, and one page stating that no one is guilty. That a crime was established, that many violations were detected regarding the safety at the stadium, but no one is responsible. For that, there is no guilt,’” she recounted.
The parents of the deceased child appealed the decision of prosecutor Radoslav Gradev before the District Court in Ruse, which overturned the prosecutor’s decree on the grounds that the investigation was not conducted objectively, thoroughly, or completely.
Subsequently, the Ruse District Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal with the Veliko Tarnovo Court of Appeal, which in turn confirmed the ruling of the Ruse District Court that the investigation must be reopened.
“Za Istinata” (For the truth) sent questions to the Ruse District Prosecutor’s Office, but before the article was published, they did not respond.
In the spring of 2024, a year and a half after the tragic death of 11-year-old Ventsi, the Ruse Municipal Council, upon the proposal of Mayor Pencho Milkov (BSP), approved a budget of 58,000 BGN for new lightning protection measures at the city’s sports facilities. According to local media, the unfortunate “Dunav” sports complex has also now been equipped with lightning protection devices, but these were installed not at the expense of the municipal budget, but of the concessionaire.
