A national day of mourning has been declared on September 7 2009, commemorating the 15 victims of a tragedy in Ohrid Lake on September 5 2009.

A boat containing 55 Bulgarian tourists sunk in the early hours of September 5, drowning 15 people.

According to Bulgarian Focus news agency, the first results from the investigation show that the most likely reason for the tragedy, which happened just 200-300 metres from the shore, was that the vessel's main guide rope tore to pieces. This led to the boat losing balance and leaning to the right.

This made tourists quickly move to the boat's left side. At the point it started filling with water and overturned in just four minutes.

The lake's cold water as well as the panic and shock also added to the tragedy. The boat's captain and his mate have been arrested and could be jailed for 15 years for failing to guarantee passengers' safety.

The boat, Ilinden, was made in Germany in the 1920s but its papers and licence were in order, having undergone renovation works in the 1990s.

Survivors were brought back home a few hours after the tragedy on a plane sent by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov. The bodies of the 15 victims are currently in Skopje where they will need to be identified by relatives. This is expected to happen later today so that they can return to Bulgaria.

All victims came from towns and villages near Sofia. All expenses on their funerals will be covered by the respective municipalities. Families will also get 10 000 leva in state aid.

In Bulgaria, an investigation has started into the three companies involved in organising the tour to Ohrid. Hours after the tragedy it was announced that none of the three companies were registered as tour operators. As such, they were not qualified to provide such services, part of which was the Ohrid Lake tour.

September 6 2009 was also declared a day of national mourning in Macedonia. Hours after the incident, Macedonian transport minister Mile Yanakievski filed his resignation over the tragedy as "an act of moral duty".  Later, however, the Macedonian cabinet refused to accept it and he remained in post.