YEREVAN. - The passengers of the “hostage” bus heading Yerevan from Istanbul were demanded to pay $2,300, one of the passengers told Armenian News-NEWS.am agreeing to unveil details.

The interlocutor told that he, along with other travelers, decided to take that bus as other offices were closed. At first everything was normal, however, as soon as they reached Georgia, the drivers rejected to drive further. Drivers claimed that they were not paid half of the money by the company and hinted for the passengers to pay about $2300 to cover allegedly fuel and other expenses.

After long negotiations, drivers agreed to reach Tbilisi and contact the manager of the company. It was somehow cleared out that the manager and drivers had some problems, and the passengers were to blame for it.

In response to the question what hindered them to take the luggage and continue the way on their own, the passenger said that the luggage was locked and if someone touched it in the territory of Georgia, should have paid $3000 fine.

“We could not take it, unless we paid for it,” he said.

After all, the 49 passengers were taken to the checkpoint, led to the neutral zone and allowed to take the luggage.

 “I would like to stress that I headed to Istanbul on a Turkish bus with high quality service, regarding Armenian carrier, no comment,” he concluded.