site.bta20th Anniversary of Indigo Disco Tragedy, Where Seven Teenagers Died in Stampede

Sofia, December 21 (Metodi Yordanov of BTA) - December 21 marks the 20th anniversary of the Indigo Disco tragedy. On this day in 2001, seven children aged 10 to 15 died and 12 others were injured in a stampede as some 3,000 teenagers queued at the entrance of the Indigo Disco in Sofia.

The incident was widely seen as an example of the lack of responsibility by both the victims' parents and the institutions. The court case was returned and reopened several times. A day of mourning was declared the following day, MPs started their session with a minute of silence, prayer services were held. The sentences, however, took years to be issued and were widely seen as a slap on the wrist.

In the summer of 2008, a court of last instance confirmed the "guilty" verdicts of four persons indicted in the Indigo case. Two security guards were found guilty of failing to ensure safe entry in the disco club and were sentenced to pay a fine of 800 leva each. Tsvyatko Barchovski, the then head of the Committee for Youth, Physical Education and Sports at the time of the Indigo incident, was sentenced to three months in prison, three years on probation and a fine of 1,500 leva. The fine of 3,000 leva that disco club manager Angel Nikolov had been sentenced to pay was reduced to 1,000 leva. The two security guards and the club owner were ordered to pay jointly 50,000 leva in settlement of civil law claims.

A monument of the seven children was unveiled in front of the disco on the first anniversary of the tragedy. The monument, "The Tree of Life", was made by sculptor Stavri Kalinov. It is made of bronze and has seven leaved branches that would remind of the seven dead children. The premises of the notorious disco, once located next to the Vassil Levski National Stadium, were turned into an ice-skating rink. MY