site.btaDay of Mourning in Bulgaria in Memory of Victims of Deadly Bus Crash, Nursing Home Fire

Sofia, November 24 (BTA) - Wednesday is a day of national mourning in Bulgaria in memory of the nine victims of a fire in a nursing home in northeastern Bulgaria and to the few dozen victims, most of them nationals of the Republic of North Macedonia, in a deadly bus crash near Sofia in the early hours of November 23.

The national flags of all state institutions flew at half mast in memory of the victims.

On November 22, nine people died and two were seriously injured in a nursing home fire in the northeastern village of Royak, near Varna.

On November 23, a bus crashed and caught fire on Strouma motorway near Sofia shortly after 2:00 am, killing at least 45 people. The bus was returning to Skopje from a tourist trip to Istanbul. Seven survivors were taken to an emergency hospital in Sofia and are in stable condition with no threat to their lives.

Many embassies in Sofia flew their flags at half-mast as well in memory of the victims.

Ambassador Khalid Emara of the Arab Republic of Egypt sent official notes to Bulgarian caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Svetlan Stoev, to express condolences for the tragic fire accident in the village of Royak. Official notes of condolences were also sent for the tragic road accident on the Strouma highway to the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, and to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani.

Serbian Ambassador to Sofia Zeljko Jovic visited one of the injured people taken to hospital who is a national of Serbia, the Serbian Embassy said on its website. The diplomat thanked the doctors and the medical experts who are providing treatment to the injured people. RY/YV, ZH//