New drama on the roads of Bulgaria.
A bus accident, which occurred around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, left at least 45 dead, including five children.
The incident took place on a highway near the village of Bosnek, 40 km south of Sofia, said Commissioner Nikolay Nikolov, head of the Disaster Control Service, speaking on public television BNT.
The bus struck the crash barrier for some reason at this point and quickly ignited.
A huge tragedy took place early this morning with a North Macedonian bus bus in Bulgaria.
All our thoughts are with the families of the victims.
- Bulgaria in the EU (@BGPermRepEU) November 23, 2021
"The driver died instantly, so there was no one to open the doors" and allow passengers to escape the fire, said the head of the national police, Stanimir Stanev, on a national channel.
Seven passengers were still able to be rescued and evacuated to a hospital in the capital, for his part, Commissioner Nikolay Nikolov said.
These are two women and five men.
At first, the information reported victims from North Macedonia, where the bus was registered.
But according to the police, only the two drivers came from Macedonia, the passengers being "all Albanians".
"The only thing that is clear is that the bus had Macedonian license plates", commented on his side the interim Bulgarian Prime Minister, Stefan Yanev, who went to the scene and refused to give details of the nationality of the victims.
Uncertainty about the nationality of the victims
Twelve minors, including five children, were in the vehicle, which came from Istanbul and was heading for Skopje (capital of Macedonia).
They all died in the accident.
“The survivors are traumatized, they have lost loved ones, children.
They jumped out of the windows, ”said Maya Arguirova, head of the burn treatment center where they were transported.
"It is a tragedy", reacted the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev, questioned by the Bulgarian media.
"Teams are going to go there to take part in the rescue".
Read alsoLower vaccination rate in the EU, Bulgaria worries Europe
The last serious coach accident in Bulgaria dates back to August 2018: 17 passengers died as the vehicle drove through torrential rain, with Bulgarian tourists on board returning from a visit to a monastery in a mountainous region north of Sofia .
Bulgaria, a country of 6.9 million inhabitants, recorded some 628 road deaths in 2019 and 463 in 2020, a figure lower than normal due to health restrictions which limited travel.
This is one of the highest balance sheets in the European Union due to the poor condition of the roads, the dilapidated vehicle fleet and frequent speeding.
This time, the drama took place on a recently renovated road with EU funds of which Bulgaria has been a member since 2007.