A bus carrying tourists back to North Macedonia has crashed and caught fire in western Bulgaria, killing at least 45 people including a dozen children, authorities said.
The bus apparently ploughed through a barrier on a highway, although 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 with all of its windows blown out, sitting in the central reservation. A portion of the barrier was peeled away and lying in the road.
Seven survivors were taken to hospital after the crash, which happened as a group of buses were returning from a trip to Turkey.
Bulgarian interior minister Boyko Rashkov told reporters at the crash site that he had “never in my life seen something more horrifying”.
“The people who were on the bus are turned to charcoal,” he said. “It is impossible to say how many they were.
“There were four buses that travelled together, and it is possible that passengers changed buses during the stops.”
Borislav Sarafov, chief of Bulgaria’s national investigation service, confirmed 52 people were on the bus.
Among the survivors, five are North Macedonia nationals, one is Serbian and another Belgian, according to the North Macedonia Foreign Ministry.
Albanian foreign minister Olta Xhacka wrote online that almost all of the dead were ethnic Albanians — but it was not clear if they were also nationals of North Macedonia, which is home to a significant number of ethnic Albanians.
News of the crash hit hard in the small country of about two million people. The government observed a minute of silence and declared three days of mourning. Flags will be lowered to half-mast, and all public events will be cancelled.
The country’s prime minister travelled to Bulgaria, as did its chief prosecutor, who visited the crash site. Several Bulgarian officials, including the caretaker prime minister, also went to the scene.
Twelve children were confirmed among the dead, according to the North Macedonia chief prosecutor, Ljubomir Joveski.
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who visited survivors in the hospital, told Bulgarian television channel bTV that one said he was woken by an explosion.
In the capital of Skopje, police and family members of gathered outside the offices of a travel company that is believed to have organised the trip. The office looked closed, with a grate pulled down over its door.
“Now, we are waiting for bad news,” Bekim Aliti, who was visibly distraught, told reporters outside the building. He said his wife and his brother’s wife were on the trip.
Eldin Shiroki said his cousin works as a tour guide for the company. “We still don’t have any accurate information — so we are waiting,” he said.
In 2019, Bulgaria had the second-highest road fatality rate in the 27-nation European Union, with 89 people killed per million, according to European Commission data.
“Let’s hope we learn lessons from this tragic incident, and we can prevent such incidents in the future,” said Bulgarian caretaker prime minister Stefan Yanev.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen expressed her condolences to the families and friends of those who died and said that “in these terrible times, Europe stands in solidarity with you”.
