Mourning for Macedonia boat dead

Photo of the Ilenden taken in March, 2008

Police described the incident as the worst ever on Lake Ohrid

Macedonia and Bulgaria have been mourning the death of 15 people, killed after a sightseeing boat sank in Lake Ohrid in south-western Macedonia.

The Ilinden sank about 200m from the shore, reportedly within four minutes. Some 42 passengers were rescued, but four were seriously injured.

Macedonia says the accident may have been caused by a combination of a technical fault and overcrowding.

All of those killed were Bulgarian, the government in Sofia has said.

Macedonian Transport Minister Mile Janakievski has offered his resignation, for what is described as "ethical reasons", in the aftermath of what police said was the worst accident ever to happen on the lake.

The captain of the boat said there was a "loud crack" before the boat sank, police say.

Police have described the incident, which happened at Macedonia's best-known tourist resort, as "an enormous tragedy".

Bulgaria said the dead included one child.

"The 23-year-old skipper and his deputy have been questioned about the incident," Macedonian police spokesman Ivo Kotevski told the Associated Press news agency.

Cries of help

The tourists had been on their way to the St Naum monastery complex when the 30m (98 feet) vessel broke in two and sank at about 1100 (0900 GMT), according to witnesses.

The wreckage of the sunken boat "Ilinden" is seen just few meters below the surface of Lake Ohrid, south-west Macedonia

In pictures: Lake disaster

"We were in a speed boat and we saw the boat sinking. We just turned around and we saw people crying for help," an eyewitness told BBC Macedonian.

"When we got there, 10 were already dead. We took seven with us, we thought we could save more but it was too late."

Another witness told the BBC: "Around 1030 I went to the beach, and all of a sudden, I heard cries of 'Help! Help me, help me!' and we saw how the forward part of the boat had sunk in the water.

"I have a small dinghy and with a friend we went towards the boat, then two more small boats came along.

"It was lucky that there were other small boats who came along, and threw life-saving vests and took the survivors on board.

A minute's silence has already been held for the victims of the sinking, before a World Cup football qualifier between Bulgaria and Montenegro on Saturday.

A BBC correspondent in the region says accidents like this on Lake Ohrid are extremely rare.

Are you in Macedonia? Did you witness the event? Send us your comments.