site.btaBulgaria Condemns All Forms of Terrorism as It Remembers 2012 Burgas Bus Bombing

On July 18, Bulgaria remembers a bus bombing at Burgas Sarafovo Airport on its Black Sea coast 13 years ago, which killed five Israeli tourists.

“We confirm that Bulgaria categorically opposes all forms of violence and terrorism,” the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on the social network X on the occasion of the anniversary.

The ministry described the 2012 attack as “an insidious and hostile act against the mainstay of democracy and the rule of law in Bulgaria.” It expressed sympathy for the bereaved.

On July 18, 2012, at 5:23 p.m. local time, a bomb went off in the luggage compartment of a bus in the parking area in front of the arrivals terminal of Burgas Sarafovo Airport. The explosion occurred while luggage was being put into the compartment and tourists were taking their seats on the bus after arriving from Tel Aviv by plane. The blast killed five Israeli tourists, their Bulgarian driver and the bomber, and wounded about 40 others.

The investigation took nearly eight years. It found that three Lebanese people had organized the bombing attack in Bulgaria. One of them died in the explosion and the other two left Bulgaria under false identities.