Bulgaria declares national day of mourning for accident victims

Sofia, Nov 24 (IANS) The Bulgarian government has declared Wednesday as a national day of mourning for the 54 people who were killed in two deadly accidents.

On Tuesday, at least 45 people were killed when a bus carrying more than 50 tourists of North Macedonia crashed on a highway, some 40 km south of the capital Sofia, reports Xinhua news agency.

On Monday afternoon, nine elderly people died in a fire at a nursing home in the village of Royak in eastern Bulgaria.

In a statement,the Bulgarian government extended its condolences to the relatives of the victims.

The national flags on all state institutions will be flown at half-staff, the government said.

On Tuesday, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev expressed condolences to the visiting North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

Following his meeting with Bulgaria's caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev the same day, Zaev said that North Macedonia will also declare a national day of mourning for the victims of the bus crash.