Dozens of people died in a bus accident in Bulgaria. Many children were among the victims.
The accident took place overnight on a highway in western Bulgaria, while dozens were on board, according to local officials.
The bus was heading from Turkey to North Macedonia. But it hit a highway barrier either before or after it caught fire near the village of Bosnek.
The sources affirmed that 12 children had been on board the vehicle. But it is not clear if any of them had survived.
However, seven other passengers survived the accident and went to a hospital.
The incident is the most deadly accident of its kind in the Balkan country’s history.
Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov, who visited the site of the accident, said the bodies of those who died in the incident were “clustered inside [the bus] and are burnt to ash.”
“The picture is terrifying, terrifying. I have never seen anything like that before,” he told reporters.
“We have an enormous tragedy here,” Bulgarian interim Prime Minister Stefan Yanev told reporters.
North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said he had spoken to one of the survivors who told him the passengers were sleeping when they were woken by the sound of an explosion.
