The passenger list has been sent to Skopje and the process to identify the victims of the bus accident, which took place on a highway in Bulgaria, has started, Borislav Sarafov, head of the National Investigation Service (NIS), said at a joint news conference alongside Macedonia’s Chief Public Prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski.

Witnesses are being interviewed at the crash site. Only two out of the seven injured passengers treated in a Sofia hospital are in a condition to speak to the authorities.

We held a joint working meeting to clarify all lines of international legal cooperation – providing all necessary documents from the Macedonian side and being sent samples in order to identify the victims, said Sarafov.

He added that the prosecution’s office will sent all documents to the institutions in Skopje.

Offering condolences to the loved ones of the victims, Macedonia Public Prosecutor Joveski thanked Bulgarian prosecutors for their assistance.

Vilma Ruskoska, head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, said that Besa Trans, the transportation company whose bus carried the passengers, has been operational for 20 years and has never had an accident, noting that all documents about the technical state of buses has to be examined.

According to initial information, the bus was new and in service in the past three years.

Pre-investigative process will not be opened in Macedonia at this point as such process will be under way only in Bulgaria, said the prosecutors.