Skopje, 7 March 2024 (MIA) - Bekim Hahxiu, owner of company "Besa Trans", which bus caught fire at a highway in Bulgaria back in 2021, resulting in the death of 45 passengers, has been handed a prison sentence of a year and eight months, a fine of Mden 800,000 (EUR 13,000) and a four-year ban for international transport of the legal entity in the case involving a falsification of a document.

Judge Ivica Stefanovski said defendants Bekim Haxhiu and company "Besa Trans BTB DOOEL Skopje" are found guilty because Haxhiu, in the capacity of manager, used a false document - a license for international public transport - that was not issued by the Ministry of Transport and Communications for the specific bus.

According to the indictment, Haxhiu repeatedly used the document through the drivers of the bus owned by the company.

On 23 November 2021, 45 people were killed after a "Besa Trans" bus travelling from Istanbul to Skopje skidded and caught fire on the Struma highway in Bulgaria. Bulgarian investigators established that the driver was responsible for the accident after losing control of the bus.

MIA file photo