At least 11 people were killed, and around 50 were injured after a massive pile-up involving nearly 50 vehicles brought traffic to a standstill on a fog-covered motorway in eastern Bulgaria on Tuesday, November 10.
The accident occurred on the A1 motorway, which connects the capital Sofia with the Black Sea city of Burgas. Thick fog is suspected to have triggered the chain of collisions, with vehicles travelling in both directions caught up in the crash.
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Bulgaria Multi-Car Pile-Up: Five Key Takeaways
1. According to Reuters, the accident began with a collision between a bus and a truck on the stretch of highway heading towards Burgas. The impact reportedly set off a series of crashes involving dozens of cars and trucks.
2. Lyubomir Nikolov, general secretary of Bulgaria's Interior Ministry, said fog was the likely cause of the accident while briefing reporters at the scene.
3. Images aired by local media showed the scale of the destruction, with cars and trucks crushed, overturned and piled on top of one another across six lanes. Some vehicles were also seen pushed off the road, while others appeared severely damaged or burnt out.
4. Regional governor Georgi Chalakov told Bulgaria's BTA state news agency that an estimated 50 vehicles were involved in the accident near the city of Yambol, according to France 24.
5. Police, firefighters and ambulance crews rushed to the scene as emergency services began rescue operations. Around 50 injured people were taken to hospitals in nearby cities, according to Bulgaria's Interior Ministry.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev described the incident as a "tragedy" and said the government had deployed two aircraft equipped with stretchers and medical teams to evacuate the injured.
Some people were still trapped inside their vehicles, Chief Inspector Todor Mishinev of the Yambol Regional Directorate of the Interior Ministry told Nova TV.
"The priority is rescue operations. Once they are completed, the procedural and investigative actions will be carried out," he said.
Radev also cancelled his remaining official engagements on Tuesday and said he planned to visit the accident site.
The tragedy also disrupted a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was in Bulgaria to meet the prime minister. She said she would cut short her visit, expressing condolences to the victims and paying tribute to the rescue teams.
The accident has once again drawn attention to Bulgaria's road safety record, which remains among the worst in the European Union.
According to European Commission figures cited by France 24, Bulgaria recorded 71 road deaths per million inhabitants in 2025, the highest rate in the bloc.
A total of 456 people died in road accidents in the country last year, although this represented a 5% decline from 2024 and a 27% drop compared with 2019.
Reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and an ageing vehicle fleet have frequently been cited as contributing factors. Around half of the cars registered in Bulgaria are more than 20 years old, according to France 24.
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The European Union has set a target of reducing road deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030. However, despite improvements in recent years, Bulgaria and Romania continue to report some of the bloc's highest road fatality rates.
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