According to a report by the official BTA news agency, at least 46 people were killed in a serious bus accident in Bulgaria. The accident occurred on Tuesday night on the Struma motorway about 40 kilometers south of the capital Sofia, as BTA reported, citing the Ministry of the Interior. Children are also among the victims. Several injured were taken to a hospital in Sofia.
According to the report, the bus had rammed a guardrail shortly after two o’clock in the morning (three o’clock CET) for reasons that were still unexplained and then rolled over. According to initial findings, there were so few survivors because the bus was on fire. It is still unclear whether he caught fire before the accident or rolled over and then went up in flames.
A total of about 50 passengers and two drivers were on the bus, reported the state radio with reference to the police. The victims are said to be mostly Albanians. According to the BTA, the bus was registered in Skopje, came to Bulgaria from Turkey and was on its way to North Macedonia.
The attorney general’s office started an investigation into the cause of the accident. Bulgaria’s interim Prime Minister Stefan Janew contacted the North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev by phone. Janew also wanted to go to the scene of the accident.