"Heartfelt Thanks to the Doctors": Some of Those Injured in the Serious Trakia Motorway Crash Discharged from Hospital

Some of the people injured in the serious multiple-vehicle pile-ups on the Trakia Motorway have been discharged from hospital. The injured spent up to four days in hospitals in Burgas, Sliven and Yambol. What is their condition?

The first four people injured in the serious crash on Trakia Motorway have now been discharged from hospital in Burgas. Three of them were travelling on a bus from Levski to a health resort in Sofia, while the fourth was driving one of the cars involved in the chain collision. Three patients remain in hospital, two of them in a serious condition. One of those still receiving treatment is a Romanian national.

In Sliven, five injured people were discharged yesterday, while one woman was transferred to Sofia at the request of her relatives. Eleven people remain in hospital this morning, and some of them are also expected to be discharged.

In Yambol, two patients have already returned home, while three others are continuing their treatment in hospital.

Veselina was among the first patients to be discharged, but she is unlikely ever to forget the horror of what happened.

Veselina Varbanova, injured bus passenger: "Other cars started crashing into us from behind, and the bus windows, seats and backrests began moving and breaking against us. We were all wondering what to do. The doors wouldn't open. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I had no feeling in my fingers and was in severe pain."

Theodor is going home today with a fractured sternum and multiple injuries. He managed to escape from his car, which had been crushed almost beyond recognition. He immediately began warning other people about the danger.

Theodor Todorov, injured driver: "I found a rubber tyre rim and, using my phone, I kept moving between the two crash barriers, making all sorts of movements just so that people would see me."

Lyudmila and Ganka are still struggling to breathe.

Ganka Slavova, injured passenger: "My leg was cut here. I had fallen down among the broken glass. The door was locked, it was dark and we couldn't get out. A car next to our bus was on fire, and people were shouting that the bus could explode at any moment – 'Run, run!' Where were we supposed to run?"

Lyudmila Licheva, an injured passenger on the bus from Levski: "I was watching it on television and saying: 'My God, I was there too, I was there!' I am deeply grateful to the doctors. From the bottom of my heart!"

Prof. Dr Asen Baltov, Head of the Orthopaedics and Traumatology Clinic: "The greatest satisfaction is hearing someone say 'Thank you'. We ask for nothing else. What matters is that they are alive and well, and that they come back to Nessebar for rehabilitation next year."

Among the first people to come to the victims' aid was nurse Teodora Georgieva.

Teodora Georgieva, nurse: "People were shouting for help from underneath the cars. Quite a few people were sitting on the road with open wounds. At one point, I had to open the crashed vehicles and take out their first-aid kits so that I could dress people's wounds."

Two of the injured have also been discharged from hospital in Sliven.

Mihail: "We were travelling to Sunny Beach. Suddenly, this lorry appeared without headlights, indicators or brake lights, and we crashed into it. I don't know, I can't remember. After that, there were just more impacts behind us."

For the survivors, however, the road back to normal life is only just beginning.