Today marks the 20th anniversary of the tragedy in the river Lim, in which 12 Bulgarian children died.
On April 4, 2004, a group of 34 students and 16 adults returned from an excursion to Dubrovnik. Most of the passengers on the bus are children from the school "Nikolay Katranov". in Svishtov. At 22:00 Bulgarian time, at a bend on a mountain road, the driver lost control of the vehicle, BNT recalls.
The bus plunged about 15 meters down a steep bank and fell into the bed of the Lim River near the Serbian village of Gostun, located between the towns of Bielo Pole in Montenegro and Pripolije in Serbia. The flight sinks in a matter of minutes in the approaching river Lim.
Local people and a whole football team from the neighboring town of Bielo Pole come to help in getting the children out. Rescue operations are hampered by the 6-meter-deep river Lim. 38 people were saved.
After the tragedy, the parents of the dead children established the "Angels from Lim" foundation. Every year in April, the foundation organizes "Angels from Lim" Days. At the crash site, on the banks of the Lim River between Serbia and Montenegro, a memorial was erected in memory of the children, representing broken angel wings.
Ilia Izmirliev, one of the drivers, was found guilty of the tragedy. Initially, the court sentenced him to 7 years of imprisonment, but after an appeal, his sentence was reduced to 4 years.
On December 13, 2017, the driver of the bus that crashed in the Lim River, Iliya Izmirliev, was found dead after an accident on the Smolyan road – Pamporovo. According to unofficial information, 64-year-old Izmirliev died while driving, after which the car crashed into the guardrail.