A dozen of the victims were children.<\/b>
\nAt least 45 people, including 12 children, were killed early Tuesday in a bus crash and fire in western Bulgaria. The bus, which was one of four filled with tourists returning to neighboring North Macedonia from a trip to Turkey, crashed through a guardrail on a highway, but investigators are unsure what caused the incident. The bus\u2019 windows were blown out in the fire, which scorched the inside and parts of the outside of the vehicle. Authorities said DNA tests are being conducted to identify the victims, many of whom are believed to be ethnic Albanians. Bulgarian interior minister Boyko Rashkov said the identification process would take awhile. \u201cThe people who were on the bus are turned to charcoal,\u201d Rashkov said. \u201cThere were four buses that traveled together, and it is possible that passengers changed buses during the stops.\u201d Seven survivors were hospitalized after the crash. In North Macedonia, the country observed a minute of silence Tuesday, declared three days of mourning, lowered flags at government buildings to half-staff and canceled all public events. Outgoing-prime minister Zoran Zaev and chief prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski traveled to the crash site. The Bulgarian government also declared Wednesday a national day of mourning. With News Wire Services<\/p>\n