45 people killed in Bulgarian bus crash
SOFIA, Bulgaria — A bus carrying tourists back to North Macedonia crashed and caught fire in western Bulgaria early Tuesday, killing at least 45 people including a dozen children, authorities said. DNA tests were being carried out to identify the victims.
The bus apparently ripped through a guardrail on a highway, though authorities said the cause was still under investigation. Photos taken shortly after the crash showed the vehicle engulfed in flames as plumes of thick, black smoke rose. Daylight revealed a burned-out shell sitting in the median with all its windows blown out. Seven survivors were hospitalized after the crash, which took place as a group of buses was returning from a trip to Turkey. Twelve children were among the dead, said North Macedonia’s chief prosecutor, Ljubomir Joveski.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov told reporters that he had “never in my life seen something more horrifying” and that the identification process would take time.
“The people who were on the bus are turned to charcoal,” Rashkov said. “There were four buses that traveled together, and it is possible that passengers changed buses during the stops.”
Borislav Sarafov, chief of Bulgaria’s national investigation service, confirmed that 52 people were on the bus that crashed. Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka said almost all the dead were ethnic Albanians, but it was not clear if they were also citizens of North Macedonia.
Blagoj Bocvarski, North Macedonia’s transport minister, said officials have started a procedure to revoke the license of the travel company that owns the bus.
The Bulgarian government declared today a national day of mourning.