Bulgarian driver pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter

The driver who caused a fatal accident in Larnaca killing a 5-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to charges including involuntary manslaughter and will be sentenced next week.

Penchev Milen Stefanov, a 34-year-old Bulgarian national, pleaded guilty to causing the death of a little girl by negligence, reckless driving, and driving under the influence.

Stefanov had fallen asleep at the wheel last Monday when his car rear-ended a pickup truck with a family of five inside, causing it to swivel and rollover killing the young daughter of the family.

Police said a preliminary test showed the Stefanov was driving under the influence of hallucinogenics, with him later telling investigators he had been seeing a psychiatrist and taking prescribed medication.

Accident investigators also said nobody in the pickup truck was wearing a seat belt.

Stefanov, who was represented by a defence attorney, will remain in custody until his sentencing trial most likely on July 10.

The accident came hours after another man, a father of two was killed in similar circumstances on June 25, with his two daughters surviving and seeing their dad take his last breath on the asphalt.

Also, days after the two accidents, another woman was driving four children from Larnaca airport when she lost control of the vehicle, with the car speeding out of control and rolling over.

Her daughter and another girl in the back seat were killed at the scene, both 11-year-old girls, who were not wearing their seat belts.

State forensic pathologists were shocked during the post mortem of the two girls, one of whom was crushed underneath the overturned vehicle most likely due to not having her seat belt fastened. One of the deaths was due to a fatal blow to the head.

The mother, a 40-year-old Russian national, was arrested and questioned but later released from custody.