Deaths

"Each year between 5 and 10 people die in the mountains. Some lost, others freeze, and others die under  avalanches. So I wish to advise skiers and snowboardriders to run only on trails designated for that”, said eng. Pencho Babukchiev, head of the Mountain Rescue Service at the BRC. In the archives  MRS keeps statistics for each received assistance over the years (see table below). Even experienced mountaineers are not in safe. History knows neither one nor two cases.

In the winter  2008

under the snowdrifts died a lifeguard who even wore his backpack for avalanches. Unfortunately, that is why the boy died under snowdrifts. When  avalanche sweeped, backpack belts strained him so hard that he couldn’t breathe. The boy was waving  and kicking to make room for breathing under the snow, but without success - so he died, say his fellow lifeguards.

February 2, 2003

An avalanche killed 24-year-old man near the hut "Paradise" in the Botev Peak. The dead was Elijah  Ilchev from Sopot. Together with other tourists he left the hut  but took an improper terrain, where he was caught  by a snow mass. Veliko Velikov, host of "Paradise" and a few mountain rescuers started searching for him. After five hours of searching they found the corpse of  Ilchev .

January 22, 2005

The time is 10 pm. The man on duty in the Mountain Rescue Service for the last time heard the voice of Dimitar Zlatarev. 50-year-old metropolitan, president of the publishing house “Kibea” is strapped in Rila somewhere between Moses and hut “Granchar”.  Where exactly – he couldn’t explain on the mobile. Says only that he has barely noticed the sign pointing to the hut “Granchar”. Then the phone battery died and  Dimitar was disconnected. Two days later searching was canceled  because of avalanche danger. Before thas, however, helikopter of the airline "Air Ban" included in searching.

January 27, 2005

27-year-old Damian Dimitrov died somewhere between shelter Botev and hut  “Levski” in the Stara Planina. The weather was very bad, and Damian set out on a hard transition without good equipment. He was with ordinary sunglasses and unmasked. Chilly wind blew at a speed exceeding 120 kilometers \ h, which rapidly enervate him. The snow was about 50-60 cm, and the temperature fell below -15 degrees.  Experienced mountaineers and climbers Peyo Delev and Andrey Hristov tried to help him walk. However, Damian was so exhausted that he could barely move. He made two steps and fell, say the mountaineers. Once they saw they could not help him, and could’ve rescued their own lives, the men abandoned him near to a pine. His frozen body was found at 15 meters away from the tree, submerged in about four feet of snow.

February 18, 2008

Two-years-old  Bozidar Simeonovgrad was found dead after his father  forgot him in the mountain. The child was found in bushes. All  night he was  looking his way home.

January 28, 2009

28-years-old  experienced snowboardrider Victor Garbev found his dead under an avalanche. He died on top of Todorka hill in Bansko. The reason is that the bulldog was running on dangerous  grooves of  Shiligarnika. Victor was a ski trainer and he taught his students not to run on prohibited areas. He caused an avalanche that fell from 1500 meters altitude.  The snow that  buried him was deeper than 7 m. A single cubic meters of it weighed between 400 and 500 kg. Snowboardrider died on the spot of impact. His girlfiend Velika Stoichova was running with him but she survived as a surprise. “I felt that the snow was moving under my feet. For less of a second I was able to deflect board and grab the first bush I saw. I saw how the avalanche swallowed my boyfriend.  I could not do anything. I haven’t seen him since then”, she told reporters a few  hours after the incident.

Statistical Table for  support of MRS in 1998 - 2007