Ten Investigators to Establish Causes of Trakia Motorway Crash, After Which 11 Died and 51 Were Injured (OVERVIEW)

Eleven people were killed and 51 injured in two multiple-vehicle pile-ups on the Trakia motorway. The crashes occurred early this morning in the Yambol area, when a sudden, rapid thickening of fog reduced visibility to just 10 metres within moments.

• There were two serious accidents on the Trakia Highway—in the directions of Sofia and Burgas—which triggered BG-ALERT

The first collision occurred on the lane heading toward Sofia. It was 7 a.m. The fog was not thick—visibility was 70–80 metres—and cars and lorries were traveling at high speeds. Suddenly, the fog thickened sharply and visibility dropped dramatically. The first impact was followed by a second, then a third. All 11 fatalities were travelling on this lane.

• A major pileup involving dozens of cars closed the Trakia Highway near Zimnitsa

Minutes later, a second pile-up occurred in the opposite lane. It was caused by drivers becoming distracted as they focused their attention on the first crash. The injured were taken to hospitals in Sliven, Yambol and Burgas (Southeastern Bulgaria).

Ten investigators are now working to establish the causes of the crashes under the supervision of the Yambol District Prosecutor's Office.

• The National Investigation Service Takes Over the Investigation of the Two Serious Chain-Reaction Accidents on the Trakia Highway

The National Investigation Service has taken over the investigation into the major pile-ups on the Trakia motorway, in which 11 people were killed and dozens injured. Given the exceptional complexity of the case, ten investigators, three forensic specialists and a mobile forensic laboratory were deployed to the scene.

Witness interviews are continuing under the supervision of the Yambol District Prosecutor's Office. A further examination of the scene of the tragedy is also being carried out using a drone. Forensic medical examinations have been ordered for those who died, with examinations of the injured also due to follow.

A key part of the investigation will be the vehicle technical examination, which is expected to establish the precise sequence of events and the causes of the serious collisions. The extent of the material damage will also be assessed. Meanwhile, the gradual removal of some of the damaged vehicles has begun at the scene, using heavy machinery.

It is still unclear when the motorway will reopen to traffic.

• Ministry of Health: 11 Killed in the Accident on “Trakia” Motoway

Just after 7am this morning, thick fog engulfed the 291st kilometre of the Trakia motorway. On the carriageway towards Burgas, a lorry blocked the path of a passenger bus. It was followed by a collision with a lorry carrying grain, which was then hit from behind by another car. Within minutes, the impacts escalated into a major pile-up involving dozens of cars, lorries and heavy goods vehicles. Survivors have described the first moments of the horror.

Blagoy, a person involved in the crash: “There were cars that had been hit. My colleague stopped, having slowed down beforehand, and then vehicles started hitting us from behind, pushing us out of position. You can see the devastation. We tried to jump out of the lorry after the first impact, when we were hit. We started getting out, but there was one collision after another. Eventually, we managed to get out and ran towards the field.”

The force of the impacts sent heavy vehicles crashing into one another. Some were crushed beyond recognition, while a number of people were trapped inside.

Veselin, a person involved in the crash: “It's simply a tragedy – you can see the situation for yourselves. People were driving too fast for the conditions. We had stopped, but vehicles behind us started pushing us along. We pushed this car over here. The lorry that hit us and pushed us all the way here —that’s the one that pushed us all the way here.”

Petar, an injured survivor: “We were travelling at 100 kilometres per hour when cars suddenly appeared in front of us – lots of them. I slammed on the brakes, but the van wouldn't stop. Further down the road, it was absolutely terrifying. I don't know what happened there. Thankfully, some people got out of the bus to signal to others to stop. The fog was certainly very thick. You couldn't see anything beyond 15 to 20 metres. Some people must also have been driving at high speed.”

• Trakia Motorway Deadly Pile-up - Owner of bus that stopped in front of lorry on Trakia Motorway: We were lucky amid a tragedy

The owner of the transport company whose bus managed to stop without colliding with the lorry in front of it spoke to BNT. It was this lorry that blocked the carriageway, triggering the chain of events that turned the motorway into a scene of devastation.

Vladimir Gatev, owner of the transport company: “Everyone is fine. There are only minor injuries and abrasions. Thankfully, there are no seriously injured people. My driver says: ‘Suddenly, literally as if someone had cut through it with a knife, we entered extremely dense fog.’ But he managed to stop.”

While the serious collisions continued on the carriageway towards Burgas, a crash also occurred on the opposite carriageway, towards Sofia.

Chief Commissioner Lyubomir Nikolov, acting Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior: “We believe that the road traffic accident on the lane towards Sofia occurred through the same mechanism. However, I suspect that the fact that both accidents happened in this location was due to drivers becoming distracted and taking their attention away from the road after noticing the serious pile-up on the lane towards Burgas.”

Kaloyan Kaloyanov, Deputy Minister of the Interior: “A total of 86 vehicles were involved in the incident on both sides of the central reservation, across the two carriageways: 63 on the carriageway towards Burgas and 23 on the carriageway towards Sofia.”

Death toll in deadly crash near Zimnitsa rises to 12; day of mourning declared for tomorrow

A large-scale rescue operation, codenamed ‘Save’, was launched. Reaching some of the casualties proved extremely difficult because of the accumulation of wrecked and crushed vehicles. Rescue teams had to approach trapped people on foot and carry them by hand to ambulances. More than 15 fire engines, police officers, military personnel and medical teams took part in the operation. The toll was tragic: 11 people killed and 51 injured.

• Ivan Demerdzhiev: There are many causes for the accident on Trakia Motorway

Ivan Demerdzhiev, Minister of the Interior: “Visibility here was around 70 to 80 metres shortly before the accident. There was fog, but it was not particularly dense. The fog suddenly became much thicker at the scene, and that is when the pile-up began. The vehicles travelling towards Burgas accumulated extremely quickly.”

• Investigation to Establish Causes of Crashes on Trakia Motorway, Says Prime Minister Rumen Radev

Rumen Radev, Prime Minister: “I would like once again to extend my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in this crash. I would also like to thank all the rescue teams and members of the public who responded and worked in these extremely difficult conditions this morning. We have taken all necessary measures, not only to transport the injured to the hospitals I mentioned, but also to organise an air bridge as quickly as possible. We deployed the government aircraft from Burgas and both Spartan aircraft stationed at Bezmer Air Base.”

The investigation into the major crash has been taken over by the National Investigation Service. Investigators will now work to establish precisely what led to the series of collisions.