A deadly chain of crashes in thick fog has torn through a key Bulgarian motorway, killing 11 people and leaving dozens more hurt in one of the European Union’s most accident-prone countries.
The pile-ups, involving dozens of vehicles, unfolded near Yambol in southeastern Bulgaria on both sides of the highway that connects the capital Sofia with Burgas on the Black Sea.
Police, firefighters and ambulance crews rushed to the scene on the A1 road as chaos spread across the carriageways.
About 50 cars and trucks were caught up in the collisions, the regional governor of Yambol told the BTA state news agency.
Photographs from the area showed cars and lorries overturned and smashed, twisted together in heaps, with some vehicles burned out.
Watch: Drone shows 50-vehicle motorway pile-up in Bulgaria
“The toll at this point is 11 dead and 48 injured,” Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.
Mr Radev made the remarks while meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is visiting Bulgaria, but he cancelled official engagements planned for later today.
Calling the motorway disaster a “tragedy” in a statement, he said aircraft had been deployed to evacuate the wounded and that he intended to travel to the crash site.
Ms von der Leyen said she would shorten her trip. “I would like to express my deepest condolences and I would like to pay respects to the rescue teams,” she said.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Interior Ministry General Secretary Lyubomir Nikolov said fog was the probable cause and that the incident began with a collision involving a bus.
The injured are being taken to hospitals in nearby cities, and the government has sent two aircraft equipped with stretchers and medical teams.
Bulgaria recorded 71 road deaths per million inhabitants in 2025 — the highest rate in the European Union — according to European Commission data.
In Bulgaria, victims often attribute the country’s heavy road toll to reckless driving, roads in poor condition and an inefficient justice system.
