Bulgarian village buries 15 killed in bus crash

SOFIA, Bulgaria - A Bulgarian village has held funeral services for 15 of its residents who died in a bus crash over the weekend.

Many of the 2,000 residents of Svetovrachene who came to pay final respects on Tuesday were related to the victims of the collision , which killed 17 people when a bus full of religious pilgrims overturned and fell off a highway about 50 kilometres north of Sofia.

Police said the bus was carrying 33 pilgrims and a driver on a trip to a Orthodox monastery.

Thirteen people died at the scene, including a 13-year-old boy, and four of the injured died in the hospital. Doctors said that four people still have life-threatening injuries.

The driver has been charged with speeding and vehicular manslaughter.