Twelve dead, fifty injured in Bulgarian motorway pile-up

Two major crashes on the A1 motorway in eastern Bulgaria killed at least 12 people and injured dozens on the morning of Tuesday, November 10, with dense fog blamed for sharply reduced visibility. Health Minister Katya Ivkova said 11 people died at the scene near the town of Zimnitsa and another died later in hospital, according to the BBC. Reuters reported 12 dead and 50 injured.

The first crash occurred on the eastbound carriageway and the second on the westbound, or Sofia-bound, side. The BBC, citing the BTA state news agency, reported that dense fog reduced visibility and was the likely cause of the first crash, while the second was likely also caused by fog, with drivers also distracted by the first crash. People.com reported that travel speeds and wet road conditions may also have been factors.

The BBC said dozens of cars and lorries were involved in the two pile-ups on the Trakia motorway, which runs west to east across Bulgaria and connects the capital Sofia to the Black Sea coast. Sliven regional governor Mihail Kasherov told journalists that more than 70 vehicles were involved, BTA reported. People.com, citing the Associated Press, Reuters and Deutsche Welle, put the total at about 86 vehicles and said the road was closed in both directions.

Road administration director Galin Kostov said speeds were unsuitable for the conditions, which included wet road surfaces, and that the motorway would remain closed until it had been cleared, BTA reported. Yambol regional governor Georgi Chalakov said reports first came in at 07:10 local time, with the injured taken by ambulance to hospitals in the Yambol, Sliven and Burgas regions. Rescue teams had to remove sections of the crash barrier to reach people, and the fog meant helicopters could not be used in the evacuation efforts, Chalakov told BTA.

Kasherov told reporters the scene was hard to describe and that he had never witnessed anything like it, People.com reported. One driver told the Associated Press that in the "thick fog" he saw multiple cars stop, then a red truck hit his vehicle from behind. "The impact sent us crashing into the guardrail, and we hit another car as well," the driver said. Another witness, who helped pull a man from a burning vehicle, told Reuters: "I got out of the car, I ran forward and pulled that man out."

Prime Minister Rumen Radev cut short a news conference he was hosting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after learning of the incident and visited the scene, the BBC reported.