By Eliana Nunes

 

SOFIA, 11 Nov. - (ANA) - Twelve people have been killed and 46 others have been injured after dozens of cars and lorries piled up on a motorway in eastern Bulgaria.

 

Dense fog on the Trakia motorway that links the capital, Sofia, with the Black Sea port of Burgas caused the crashes near the town of Zimnitsa on Tuesday morning.

 

As many as 86 vehicles were involved in two major pile-ups, according to Bulgarian public broadcaster BNT, which reports that the injured have been taken to hospitals in the nearby cities of Sliven, Yambol and Burgas.

 

Health Minister Katya Ivkova said 10 people died at the scene, while two more died on their way to hospital. She added that 46 people were taken to hospital for treatment.

 

The health ministry said: "The situation at the scene remains dynamic. So far, approximately half of the site has been cleared. The most difficult part of the operation is yet to come: cutting apart and removing the vehicles, which are piled on top of one another."

 

An air ambulance that took off from Sliven was unable to land due to the thick fog, meaning paramedics had to be transported to the scene in police vehicles, according to BNT.

 

Burgas University Hospital has urged people to donate blood to help the victims of the crash, the broadcaster reports.

 

Lyubomir Nikolov, secretary general of the interior ministry, said the first crash took place on the carriageway heading towards Burgas and involved a lorry and a bus. He added that this collision, along with those that followed, was "most likely" caused by the "thick fog that occurred suddenly".

 

"According to witnesses at the scene, visibility on the carriageway towards Burgas was around 70 to 80 metres before suddenly dropping to just 10 metres. We believe this may have been when the road traffic accident occurred," Nikolov said.

 

"We believe that the accident on the carriageway towards Sofia occurred in a similar way. However, I suspect that the fact that both accidents happened in the same location may have been due to drivers becoming distracted and taking their attention away from the road after noticing the serious accident on the carriageway towards Burgas."  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/11 November 2026 - - -