Bus overturns in North Macedonia, 14 dead

North Macedonia's authorities say 14 people have died after a bus carrying workers overturned on a highway west of the capital Skopje.

The death toll from a bus crash in North Macedonia has risen to 14, while six of the injured are in critical condition, the state news agency MIA reports.

More than 30 people were treated in two Skopje hospitals, reports said.

The bus driver lost control on the outskirts of Skopje on the highway toward Tetovo on Wednesday afternoon, veered into the oncoming lane through the double crash barrier, then through another one on the far side, before plummeting into a ravine and overturning.

The bus on a regular line to Gostivar, 70 kilometres southwest of the capital, was packed to the last seat with workers, a survivor told the plusinfo.mk news portal.

"It happened in seconds. Suddenly the bus started crashing through barriers and before we could realise what happened, it plunged and then we were on the roof," the man who escaped with injuries said.

The driver survived and investigators interviewed him to establish the cause of the crash, Interior Ministry spokesman Toni Angelovski told reporters late Wednesday.

Skopje declared two days of mourning and cancelled planned celebration of the Orthodox Christian holiday of St Trifun.