11 dead and dozens injured in Bulgarian motorway pile-up

Updated / Tuesday, 10 Nov 2026 12:20

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Eleven people have died and dozens were injured today in pile-ups on both sides of a motorway in southeastern Bulgaria, whose roads rank as the most dangerous in the EU.

The pile-ups affecting dozens of vehicles took place in thick fog near Yambol in the southeast of the Balkan nation, on both sides of a stretch of highway linking the capital Sofia to the city of Burgas on the Black Sea.

Police, firefighters and ambulance crews attended the scene on the A1 road.

An estimated 50 cars and trucks were involved in the incident, the regional governor of Yambol, told the BTA state news agency.

Images showed overturned and smashed cars and trucks, mangled together, as well as burnt-out vehicles.

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Watch: Drone shows 50-vehicle motorway pile-up in Bulgaria

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"The toll at this point is 11 dead and 48 injured," Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.

Mr Radev was meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is on a visit to Bulgaria, but the prime minister cancelled his official events scheduled for later today.

In a statement, he described the incident as a "tragedy" and said that he had deployed aircraft to evacuate the wounded and planned to visit the scene.

Ms von der Leyen said she would cut her visit short. "I would like to express my deepest condolences and I would like to pay respects to the rescue teams," she said.

Briefing reporters at the site of the pile-up, General Secretary of the Interior Ministry Lyubomir Nikolov said that fog was the likely cause of the incident which started with a collision between a bus.

The injured are being transported to hospitals in nearby cities, while the government has dispatched two aircraft equipped with stretchers and medical teams.

Bulgaria saw 71 road fatalities per million inhabitants in 2025, the highest rate in the European Union, according to European Commission figures.

Victims blame the Balkan nation's high number of traffic deaths on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and an inefficient justice system.