Ohrid Tragedy not Caused by Hawser Break - Report

Society | September 21, 2009, Monday // 11:36|  views

On September 5, "Ilinden" sunk in the waters of the Ohrid Lake in Macedonia, killing 15 Bulgarian tourists. Photo by BGNES

The cause for the September 5 tragedy in Ohrid, in which 15 Bulgarian dies, is not a hawser break.

The Macedonian journalist, Niki Traykovski, explained Monday, as cited by the Bulgarian NOVA TV, that the investigation so far had excluded a boat robe break from the list of possible causes for the tragedy.

He also reminded that boat overload is the main, most likely cause for the tourist boat sinking

Investigators located Sunday the ship diary of the "Ilinden" tour boat. The initial analyses had showed that the 23-year-old boat captain, Sotir Filefski, had a license to operate it.

If the diary had been regularly updated, investigators believe it would be able to reveal the boat's technical condition before it departed with the Bulgarian group.

The diary was found during the first inspection after the Croatian company removed the remains of the tour boat from the water Saturday.

At the moment, the diary's pages are being dried one by one, BNT reported Sunday.

The investigators did not conduct a second inspection of the ship Sunday as it was previously announced. They are still working on 6 versions, but the one about premeditated murder is certainly fading away, according to BNT.

Bulgarian investigator, Georgi Iliev, also rejected any idea of premeditation, and says that the lack of rules and requirements, inappropriate distribution of passengers on the boat and systematic overloading were the most likely reasons for the tragedy while the breaking of the rope further contributed to the sinking.

The investigation is led by a group of Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Croatian experts, who are scheduled to begin next week biochemical analysis of the evidence.

The Bulgarian experts, however, are returning back after the first inspection because, according to Macedonian law, they no longer have the right to participate in their investigation. They will begin interrogating witnesses in Bulgaria.

The captains of the boat are to take the witness stand Monday in Ohrid.

On September 5, "Ilinden" sunk in the waters of the Ohrid Lake in Macedonia, killing 15 Bulgarian tourists.

 

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Tags: Ilinden, ship, sunk, Ohrid, macedonia, Ohrid Lake

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