A boy is the Bulgarian casualty on the bus, which plunged into the swollen Serbian river Lim tonight.

The bus carrying 50 persons, including 7 adults and 43 children aged between 12 and 17, fell from a 55-deep ravine into the river after the driver lost control over the vehicle on the slippery mountainous road.

According to survivors' stories, the drivers and the teachers were the first to start rescuing the children from the cold river waters, which has swollen up to 6 m depth in recent rainfalls.

Serbian and Montenegrin rescue units, as well as army troops have joined the rescue operation.

The incident occurred at about 10.20 pm while the bus was travelling on a mountain road between the town of Bijelo Polje, in the republic of Montenegro, and the village of Gostun, in Serbia.

The hospital of Prijepole has accepted 22 lightly injured passengers, 17 others are accommodated in a hotel in Bijelo Polje.

Two Bulgarian diplomats from Bulgaria's embassy are on their way to the site of the tragedy, the Foreign Ministry informed.

The organizer of the five-day school trip to Croatia's Dubrovnik is the local travel agent Diligance Express and the bus is owned by the Bulgarian transport company Pamporovo.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!