Eleven people died and 51 others were sustained injuries in two major chain reaction crashes on the Trakia Motorway involving a total of 86 vehicles, prompting the Bulgarian government to declare a national day of mourning on November 11.
The tragedy began when a Romanian freight truck reduced its speed in thick fog, triggering a devastating sequence of collisions on the highway. Nova.bg reported that the Romanian driver was detained and interrogated by authorities in Yambol following the incident.
Investigators executed six separate scene inspections using technical equipment, including drones, while seizing 20 motor vehicles for forensic examination. District Prosecutor Doichin Doychev outlined the initial sequence of events to Nova.bg, noting that a passenger bus failed to react in time after a leading car managed to swerve around the slowing truck.
“The first vehicle that participates in the accident is a Romanian truck. After it moves a car, which manages to avoid hitting the truck,” Doychev told nova.bg.
Following the bus impact, a grain-hauling truck collided with the wreckage, instigating the broader multi-vehicle pileup. Regional police director Senior Commissioner Dobrin Dimitrov told nova.bg that drivers suddenly encountered a dense blanket of fog with visibility dropping below 10 meters.
Driver Denies Involvement
A beige pickup truck driver whose vehicle was spotted near the Romanian lorry spoke to bntnews.bg to dispute eyewitness accounts placing him at the epicenter of the collision. The man asserted that he was traveling further back in the traffic column when the initial crash unfolded.
“He managed to avoid a serious collision with the passenger bus,” bntnews.bg reported of the driver’s account.
The motorist said that after dodging the primary impact, he maneuvered his vehicle past the already-crashed heavy vehicles and waited for law enforcement to arrive. Police officers who interviewed him at the scene said that he had experienced extraordinary luck, according to bntnews.bg.
While investigators probed the pickup truck’s potential connection to the disaster, the detained Romanian trucker maintained during questioning that no other automobile preceded him on the roadway.
Fifty-one people require hospital treatment after the motorway disaster
The Ministry of Health confirmed that 51 individuals required hospital treatment across multiple regional medical facilities following the motorway disaster. DW.com reported that 33 patients were admitted in Sliven, 11 in Yambol, and seven in Bulgaria’s coastal city of Burgas, with 13 classified as severely injured.
Medical authorities clarified that initial casualty estimates immediately following the crash stood at 12 deaths before subsequent identification checks confirmed 11 fatalities. Ten victims died directly at the crash site.
In response to the surge in hospitalizations, the National Center for Transfusion Haematology urged citizens nationwide to donate blood.
International Condolences
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her sympathies while meeting with Prime Minister Rumen Radev in Varna. DW.com reported von der Leyen’s remarks honoring the victims, injured individuals, and their families.
“Allow me to express my deepest condolences to the victims, the injured, their families, but also to the people of Bulgaria,” von der Leyen said, according to dw.com.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also offered solidarity, writing that Ukraine understands such profound grief due to ongoing wartime civilian casualties. Regional Governor Georgi Chalakov said that authorities deployed the BG-Alert emergency system at 8:10 a.m. once the operational parameters and verified event data were established.
Why the collision occurred and how many vehicles crashed
Why did the initial collision occur on the Trakia Motorway?
Police investigators reported that thick fog reduced visibility to under 10 meters, causing the Romanian truck to slow down unexpectedly before the following passenger bus and grain lorry crashed into it.
How many vehicles were involved in the chain reaction?
A total of 86 motor vehicles, comprising private automobiles and heavy goods trucks, participated in the twin motorway pileups, according to government figures reported by DW.com.
What is the current legal status of the Romanian truck driver?
The driver of the Romanian freight truck was detained by law enforcement in Yambol and subjected to formal questioning with the assistance of a translator, as confirmed by Nova.bg.
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