site.btaBulgarian Family of Four Dies in Plane Crash in North Macedonia

April 3 (BTA) - A small Cessna aircraft travelling from Ohrid to Sofia crashed in the Republic of North Macedonia on Tuesday, killing a Bulgarian family of four. Interior Minister Mladen Marinov said here on Wednesday that the Macedonian search and rescue teams have reached the crash site, where four bodies were found. The information that all four passengers were killed has been confirmed, he explained.

Marinov refrained from giving the victims' names until they are officially confirmed by the authorities in North Macedonia. It is too early to say what caused the crash, he went on to say. The Interior Minister said that Bulgaria was ready to provide immediate assistance, adding that his counterpart in North Macedonia has assured him that the teams there have the capacityfor first response actions. North Macedonia's Minister of
Interior is in constant touch with the Bulgarian Ambassador there. Marinov explained
that the authorities in North Macedonia were approached by the Bulgarian side last night with an offer to provide a helicopter, which was turned down. "They said they have the necessary equipment and are working according to the conditions there," he said, adding that the plane crashed at an altitude of over
2,300 metres, where there is a lot of snow, which makes the crash site hard to reach.

A check will be conducted on the aircraft's technical condition, Marinov said, adding that he has coordinated the matter with Bulgarian Minister of Transport Rossen Zhelyazkov, as his Ministry is responsible for such activities.

The Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje said that the Macedonian authorities have confirmed that the passengers are Bulgarian nationals, the Foreign Ministry reported.

According to the Bulgarian National Radio, the passengers were a Bulgarian businessman, his wife and two children. Two police helicopters have joined the search for the aircraft.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has been informed about the incident. He commented during the start of Wednesday's Council of Ministers' meeting that he is in constant contact with his
Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev, adding that a Bulgarian helicopter has been on standby ready to help the search effort since Tuesday night. 

More information is expected from the Macedonian authorities in
the course of the crash's investigation. IG/MY  




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