Struma motorway bus crash: Were there pyrotechnics on board?

The condition of the seven injured citizens from the Republic of North Macedonia, who survived in the severe bus fire accident on the Struma Motorway yesterday, November 23, remains stable. It is not yet clear when they will be transported to their homes.

Pirogov emergency hospital: Bus crash survivors stable but in severe emotional distress

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, visited them this morning in Pirogov emergency hospital in Sofia.

I announced the names of the injured in order to indirectly imply that those who were not in hospital were the ones, who died in the crash. However, we cannot officially confirm this until identification has been made. I will ask the institutions in the Republic of Bulgaria to officially inform us when the identification is completed, Bujar Osmani said.

In North Macedonia, samples are already being taken from relatives of the victims for the purposes of identification.

Relatives of the survivors and the deceased are still waiting in front of the hospital, hoping to receive official information about the identification of the victims soon.

However, there were reports that a huge amount of pyrotechnic articles had beeen transported on the bus, for which the Minister was also asked.

Now is not the time for speculation. Families are in a severe emotional state. Any speculation that is unconfirmed will only further aggravate their condition. Now is the time for the injured to be healed, for identification to be completed, Osmani said.

Samples to identify the dead are already being taken from their relatives from RNM. North Macedonian experts have also arrived in Bulgaria to participate in the identification process.

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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..

Speaking at the accident site, Bulgarian caretaker Minister of Interior, Boyko Rashkov said the victims had been burned beyond recognition, describing it as a "terrifying scene".

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.

Investigative authorities said "human error by the driver or a technical malfunction are the two initial versions for the accident".

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