Tragedy on the Struma River: Grandparents and Girl Drown, Search for 8-Year-Old Child Continues.

The search for the second child in the waters of the Struma River continues after a tragic incident claimed the lives of a grandmother, a grandfather and a young girl. The girl and her elderly grandparents drowned in the river, while the search for another child, aged 8, is ongoing.

The tragedy occurred during a family outing on the riverbank. According to initial information, the little girl entered the water to bathe, but the current swept her away. In an attempt to save her, the grandfather entered the water, followed by the grandmother, and both were carried away by the current. The attempt to save the children ended tragically for both adults.

The alert about the people in distress was submitted on Friday between 17:20 and 17:30. The only survivor is the girl’s 6-year-old brother, who managed to show courage, climbed up to the main Nevestino – Boboshevo road, stopped a car and called 112, the regional governor said.

The bodies of the elderly people were located very quickly, literally a few metres from the site of the incident. The search for the children continued, and at around 23:30 volunteers using a sonar boat found the girl’s body in the lower part of the river.

The rescue operation was suspended on Friday night but resumed on Saturday morning at 8:00 with the help of a specialized diving team from Sofia, which is expected to carry out an underwater inspection of the deep pool. Kyustendil Regional Governor Atanas Gerginov commented on the matter to Nova TV.

The institutions responded immediately, with teams from the fire service, police, the Mountain Rescue Service, volunteer units from Kyustendil and young people with boats from Boboshevo arriving at the scene in less than an hour.