Unidentified gunmen shoot Bulgarian official to death

Unidentified gunmen shot the head of a city parliament in Eastern Bulgaria to death, police said Thursday.

The shooting took place late on Wednesday in front of an apartment building in the Black Sea town of Burgas. The victim - identified as Dimitar Yankov, 55 - was shot seven times from close range while he was parking his car, police said in a statement.

The state-run news agency BTA said Yankov, who chaired the city council in the nearby resort town of Nessebar, was one of the biggest hotel owners in the resort of Sunny Beach. He was also on the managing board of the National Union of the Tourist Industry.

Yankov was expected to win upcoming mayoral elections in Nessebar, BTA said.

Earlier this year, police investigated Yankov for allegedly issuing documents allowing illegal construction in Sunny Beach.

The European Union, which Bulgaria joined in January, has warned the country to curb organized crime and overhaul its ineffective criminal justice system.