86 Vehicles Pileup on Trakia Motorway near Zimnitsa: 11 Peple Died, 46 Injured

A total of 86 vehicles were involved in the pile-up – 63 in the lane towards Burgas and 23 in the opposite lane. This was announced by law enforcement officials at a briefing on the serious road accident near Zimnitsa on November 10.

A total of 50 injured people have been identified, distributed across three regions: 28 in Sliven, 16 in Yambol and six in Burgas.

“Ten people were found dead at the scene, and one subsequently died in a hospital in Sliven,” said Deputy Interior Minister Kaloyan Kaloyanov.

“Immediately after receiving the report of the road accident, I ordered the launch of Operation ‘Save’, involving all personnel available in the neighbouring regions. Fifteen fire engines, hundreds of police officers and, of course, rescue teams from the Ministry of Health were dispatched immediately and began rescue operations,” said Lubomir Nikolov, acting Chief Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior.

The initial findings at the scene indicate that the first road traffic accident occurred in the lane towards Burgas, where a lorry blocked the path of a bus carrying a group of people, followed by further collisions.

“Subsequently, a road accident occurred behind it involving a lorry carrying grain, which was then struck from behind by a car. All the people whose deaths we have reported were in this carriageway towards Burgas. The road accident most likely occurred as a result of dense fog that appeared suddenly. According to witnesses and people who saw what happened at the scene, visibility in the carriageway towards Burgas was around 70–80 metres before suddenly dropping to 10 metres. We believe this may have been when the accident occurred. We believe the accident in the carriageway towards Sofia happened through the same mechanism, but I suspect that the fact that both incidents occurred in the same area was due to drivers in that carriageway becoming distracted and taking their attention off the road after noticing the serious accident in the direction of Burgas,” Nikolov said.

• Ministry of Health: 11 people died and 46 were injured in the serious accident near Zimnitsa

In such severe weather conditions, every driver must take account of the road conditions prevailing at this time of year, he added. He said that after the dense fog descended, the road surface had become very damp, most likely wet. This meant that drivers should have maintained the required distance and observed the speed limit indicated by the road signs.

“Perhaps we should consider improving road markings in areas where fog is common. In other words, we should adopt European practices: we have seen places where fog is frequently concentrated and where the road markings are designed to be reflective rather than simply white.”
Commissioner Nikolov did not confirm reports that a police officer had been injured.

“All those injured, including the seriously injured, have now been admitted to medical facilities. One of the injured people from Burgas is expected to be transported by the military ‘Spartan’ aircraft. The Interior Minister and the Prime Minister are currently making the necessary arrangements. There have been 11 fatalities so far, according to the information we have from the medical facilities and from colleagues examining the scene. We hope there will be no more, but there are indeed seriously injured people among the 48 injured,” Commissioner Nikolov added.

Several of the injured are in intensive care units, where resuscitation and surgical procedures have begun, including life-saving operations.

Nikolov also commented on whether the BG-ALERT system had been activated too late.

“I do not think the weather conditions are the result of any failure on the part of the state. We will consider possible improvements to road markings, as I said, in sections where fog is frequent.”

There is currently no information indicating that any children were injured or killed, Nikolov added.

Two pre-trial investigations have been opened in connection with the incident.

“Two pre-trial investigations have been opened because there were two separate road traffic accidents in the two carriageways. As has already been stated, the investigation will be assigned to the National Investigation Service because of the exceptionally serious nature of the incident,” the regional prosecutor added.

A large number of expert reports are expected to be commissioned as part of the investigation.

Eyewitnesses described the tragedy as beyond words.

“Visibility was extremely poor. Fog – that’s what it was. You can see the horror. We’re all right, but behind us… We tried to jump out of the lorry after the first impact, but there was one collision after another. We disappeared and ran towards the field.”

“A tragedy. People driving too fast for the conditions. We stopped. Then they started hitting us from behind and pushed us out of the way.”

“We weren’t travelling at a hundred kilometres an hour, perhaps. Then suddenly a lot of cars appeared in front of us. I slammed on the brakes, but the van wouldn’t stop. It was terrifying further down the road. I don’t know what happened. Thank goodness some people got out of the van and started waving to warn the others, and that’s how they stopped.”