At least 12 people were killed and about 50 injured on Tuesday when thick fog caused a chain of crashes involving dozens of vehicles on a motorway in southeastern Bulgaria, officials said. The government has declared Wednesday, November 11, a day of national mourning.
The crashes happened near Yambol on the A1 motorway — the Trakia motorway linking the capital, Sofia, with the Black Sea port of Burgas — forcing the road to close in both directions. Regional governor Georgi Chalakov told the state news agency BTA that an estimated 50 cars and trucks were involved; the Interior Ministry later put the figure at 86 vehicles.
The pile-up began with a collision between a bus and a truck about 75 kilometres (47 miles) west of Burgas, Interior Ministry general secretary Lyubomir Nikolov told reporters at the scene, adding that fog was the likely cause. Visibility had been 70 to 80 metres before the crashes and dropped to about 10 metres within a short period, the ministry said.
Health Minister Katya Ivkova said 10 people died at the scene and two more died while being taken to hospital. About 50 people were injured; 46 were transported to medical facilities, 13 of them in critical condition, according to the health ministry. The casualty figures were revised several times through the day as officials updated the toll. The injured were taken to hospitals in nearby cities, and the government dispatched two aircraft equipped with stretchers and medical teams.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev described the accident as a "tragedy" and cancelled his official events for the day, including meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was visiting Bulgaria. Road safety campaigners blamed the authorities: Bogdan Milchev, chairman of the Road Safety Institute, told public radio that the motorway section should have been closed earlier on Tuesday morning.
The crash has renewed focus on Bulgaria's road safety record. Motorways in the southeast are ranked among the most dangerous in the European Union, and Bulgaria recorded 71 road fatalities per million inhabitants in 2025 — the highest rate in the EU, according to European Commission figures.
