LYON, France – All INTERPOL member countries have been asked by Bulgarian authorities to make public a driving licence photo and computer-generated images of a suspected accomplice to the man responsible for the bomb attack in July on an Israeli tour bus outside Burgas airport in Bulgaria, as part of a public appeal to identify the man.
The suspected accomplice is thought to speak English with an accent and to be between 1.7 to 1.75 meters tall, possibly of Middle Eastern origin, and with dark brown hair and eyes.
This latest public appeal via INTERPOL by the Bulgarian authorities follows the publication by the world police body on 2 August of a computer-generated image of the alleged terrorist himself whose remains were recovered from the scene of the fatal attack on 18 July. Five Israelis and the Bulgarian bus driver were killed and more than 30 injured in the bombing.
Immediately following the fatal bombing, INTERPOL deployed an Incident Response Team (IRT) to Bulgaria from its General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon consisting of officers from its Public Safety and Terrorism unit and other specialist and technical investigative support.
At the request of Bulgarian police, INTERPOL also issued a Black Notice – used to seek information about unidentified corpses – to each of its 190 member countries in all four official languages (Arabic, English, French and Spanish) in a bid to identify the man thought to be the terrorist. It is now publishing the driving licence photo and these latest reconstructed images to engage the public's help in identifying the alleged accomplice.
“INTERPOL and its member countries continue to assist Bulgaria in its investigation by facilitating the exchange of intelligence, carrying out checks against its global databases and prioritizing all requests for information linked to this investigation,” said INTERPOL Executive Director of Police Services Jean-Michel Louboutin. “By working with INTERPOL’s global police network Bulgarian authorities are clearly doing all they can to identify those responsible for this appalling crime.”
Anyone with information on the identity of the alleged accomplice or of the bomber himself can contact their local police, the Bulgarian authorities or the INTERPOL Command and Coordination Centre at its General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France.