Ohrid marked 17 years since the tragic accident of the Ilinden boat, in which 15 Bulgarian tourists lost their lives.
A delegation of the Municipality of Ohrid laid flowers as a sign of respect and remembrance of the victims of the accident.
A delegation of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Skopje, representatives of the Consulate General of the Republic of Bulgaria in Bitola, local institutions, associations and citizens also laid flowers at the memorial.
Consul General of Bulgaria in Bitola, Petar Petrov, expressed gratitude at the commemoration to the sailors Vasko Markoski and Dragan Naumovski from the crew of the Alexandria boat, to Zoran Gilevski, the captain of the boat, Petar Vasilev, the captain of the “Kristina” boat Vasko Janev, the commander of the nearby army unit Rade Budzhakovski, the duty officer Vlatko Dimanovski and the soldiers under their command, as well as to the residents of Ohrid who joined in the rescue of the Bulgarian tourists.
Eight of the victims were residents of the Municipality of Anton, four from the Municipality of Pirdop, and one each from the municipalities of Zlatica, Mirkovo and Ribarica.
The accident occurred on September 5, 2009 at 10:30 a.m., when the “Ilinden” boat, which was sailing on the Ohrid – Sveti Naum route with 57 passengers, sank. That Saturday morning the weather was exceptionally warm and the lake calm, but the boat capsized and sank about 250 meters from the lake shore, near the Eleshec autocamp.
