The Sofia-Kardan train disaster case will receive a court hearing on September 3. The first court hearing was scheduled to take place on July 13 but was postponed because one of the three accused, Georgi Georgiev, was absent.

Should the case begin today as planned, it is likely to continue for five consecutive days, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) has reported. According to the prosecution, there are three individuals who have "direct involvement" in the tragedy that killed nine people on February 28 2009. Accusations have been brought against the person in charge of the couchette carriage, Georgi Georgiev from Varna, and train-commander Ivanka Kostadinova from Lom. The charges are of negligence, incompetence and utter disregard for quality and safety protocol that ultimately lead to the disaster.

Also accused is the deputy director of Management of Sleeping and Specialised Carriages, Georgi Ivanov. Georgiev's and Kostadinova's barristers have requested that the court hearing be conducted without having to question all 123 witnesses to the case independently.

The disaster was caused by a fire which erupted at about midnight on the train from Sofia to Kardam on the Romanian border,  in the Dobrich region. As the train was entering the town of Cherven Bryag, the fire started in a couchette carriage, which had 35 people in it at the time, and then spread to a sleeping compartment with 27 people.

Nine people died in the train fire in one of the carriages, sparking widespread public discussion about the condition of the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ). The committee was tasked with probing the causes of the fire and actions undertaken by railways employees to prevent the accident, but also to examine the regulatory framework concerning railway transport safety.