Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev did not accept the resignation of Transport Minister Petar Moutafchiev over the February 28 fire on the Sofia-Kardam train that took the lives of nine passenger, the Government press service on March 11.

Moutafchiev's actions following the incident were described by Stanishev as “adequate to the situation” and the measures Moutafchiev took were described as “professional and responsible”. Such measures included imposing a ban on smoking in all trains and strengthening the control over the passengers’ luggage.

Reporting to Stanishev on March 11, Moutafchiev said that Bulgarian state railways BDZ did not impose proper control on the trains and staff. Gaps in safety training was also highlighted by Moutafchiev, resulting in the sacking of six top managers from the railway carrier.

The investigation into the causes of the fire is still underway and is expected to last around two months, Prosecutor-General Boris Velchev said on March 5.

The fire started at night in a couchette carriage, which had 35 people in it at the time, and then spread to a sleeping coach with 27 people. It lasted about 15 minutes but it was enough for nine people to lose their lives in the flames. Investigators are working on three main possible reasons for the fire: terrorist attack, accident and criminal misconduct. So far no one had assumed any kind of responsibility for the incident.