'The kids started crying': N.Macedonia mourns victims of Bulgaria bus crash

A woman lays flowers at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Tuesday's bus accident, in front of the embassy of North Macedonia, Sofia, Bulgaria, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

STUDENICANI, North Macedonia (Reuters) - A village school in North Macedonia closed early on Wednesday after news emerged that 14-year-old pupil Anisa Iseni and her mother were among the 45 dead in a horrific bus crash in neighbouring Bulgaria.

Anisa, a 9th grader, and her mother Fikrija, 37, were on the bus carrying tourists back from a weekend trip to Istanbul to the Macedonian capital Skopje when it struck a highway barrier before daybreak on Tuesday. Only seven people aboard survived.