A tourist ship with 55 Bulgarian tourists on board sank in the Lake Ohrid. Forty of the Bulgarians are alive, with 37 of them seated in a hotel in Ohrid. Fifteen people drowned, and for a long time they were not identified. The tourist group includes people from Pirdop, Zlatitsa, Anton, Chelopech. After the identification, it was clear that entire families have died.

According to initial reports, the cause behind the sinking is overload of the vessel – there were twice the allowed amount of people on board. According to experts cited by the Macedonian media, the ship “Ilinden” is over 70 years old.

Many of the toursts were elderly people who could hardly react adequately to the situation as the small ship sank. The tourist ship tipped over 200-300 m. away from the shore. It was headed towards the monastery “St. Naum”.

Witnesses of the tragedy commented that the vessel first shook, then cracked and sank literally within a few seconds.