Bulgaria, Macedonia Remember Ohrid Lake Tragedy 1 Year Later

Pictured: the sunken tourist boat Ilinden that claimed 15 Bulgarian lives in the Ohrid Lake. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria and Macedonia have marked with memorial services the first year since the death of 15 Bulgarian tourists in the Ohrid Lake on September 5, 2010.

The 15 people drowned in the lake because of the sinking of the antiquated tourist boat Ilinden.

The tragedy was remembered with a memorial in the St. Nikola church in Ohrid Sunday morning. Dozens of Bulgarians traveled to the Macedonian town to pay respects to the memory of their relatives and friends.

The Macedonian authorities have charged over the incident the captain of the ship Sotir Filevsk and the representative of the German insurance company Lloyd Branko Baic from Croatia the trial has not started yet.

The parallel investigation in Bulgaria has stalled, allegedly because of missing documents that the Macedonian authorities have to provide.

The versions about the cause of the sinking of the ship have to do with overloading (allowing 56 people on board with a maximum of 43 allowed), a torn balancing rope, incorrect distribution of the people on board, and mistakes by the captain.

The Bulgarian organizer of the ill-fated trip of 50 tourists to Ohrid a year ago, Boryana Georgieva, has already been sentenced for carrying out business activities in violation of the Tourism Act. She was sentenced to pay a fine of BGN 4 500, and was banned from commercial activity for 2 years.

The Ilinden vessel was produced in 1924 in Regensburg, Germany, as a military boat later refashioned into a tourist ship. Its last technical check had been carried out by Lloyd in May 2009.

Bulgaria has awarded medals and citizenship to the Macedonians who took part in the rescuing of the drowning tourists, most of whom came from the town of Pirdop.

Bulgarian and Macedonian charity organizations have announced they would erect a monument in Ohrid dedicated to the tragedy by the end of September.

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