One year after the deadly accident of Macedonian bus on Struma motorway

One year after the fatal crash with the Macedonian bus on Struma motorway, the investigation is still on-going. Human error by the driver, who was not among the survivors, has been pointed to as the main cause of the accident, in which 45 people died.

Tragedy on Struma motorway: A bus caught fire leaving 45 dead

The condition of the particular stretch of the motorway where the bus burned is also under investigation.

According to the evidence gathered so far, there are problems, but at this stage they are not believed to have significantly affected the final result.

Improvements have been made in the months after the crash:

• The crash barrier which the bus originally hit has been rebuilt and is of a new type to reduce the risk of another accident;
• The signalling for the presence of a rest stop immediately after the right turn has been improved.

Human error is the main version in the investigation of the bus crash and fire, that took the lives of at least 44 people

The investigation was suspended at the end of August as another request for legal assistance was sent to the Prosecutor's office in Skopje for further interviews of the survivors as well as the heirs of the victims.

Six investigators and three prosecutors are working on the case.

In the Republic of North Macedonia, an investigation is being conducted into the bus trasport company "Besa Trans".

Unofficially, prosecutors near Vardar say corruption of colossal proportions is at the bottom of the tragedy. Bribery and party patronage lurk behind the Skopje based firm, investigators in North Madonia have found.

Due to the factual complexity, the investigation in Skopje has been split into two. Prosecutors are interviewing witnesses to the long-standing activities of the transport company. The Specialised Prosecutor's Office for prosecution of organised crime and corruption, on the other hand, is investigating questionable financial and transport activities of "Besa Trans", which is among the main sponsors of an Albanian party near Vardar.

The fatal bus was found to have left the Republic of North Macedonia 120 times between October 2020 and November 2021 without the necessary documents and permits. Often, this was done with forged licenses for international transport activities. The last technical inspection of the burnt bus was carried out at the Via Commerz in the part of Skopje with predominantly Albanian population. It operated semi-legally and was often sealed by the Macedonian control services.

Exclusive BNT interview with couple engaged to be married who escaped from the burning bus that crashed on Struma motorway

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45 people, including 12 children, died after a bus crashed and caught fire on Struma motorway in western Bulgaria in the early hours on November 23.

The bus was registered in the Republic of North Macedonia and was carrying tourists, who were returning from a trip in Turkey to Skopje.

Seven people managed to break the windows of the bus and escape. They were taken to Pirogov emergency hospital in Sofia with injuries and burns..

The bus had been travelling as part of a convoy of four buses and had stopped off at a petrol station near Sofia shortly before the accident. The other buses, which were a few minutes ahead, returned to the Republic North Macedonia safely.