YAMBOL, Bulgaria.- At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured on Tuesday morning when dense fog triggered two massive pile-ups on opposite sides of the Trakia motorway near Yambol in southeastern Bulgaria, closing the country's busiest highway in both directions. Health Minister Katya Ivkova said 10 people died at the scene and two more died while being taken to hospital, while 46 others were transported to medical facilities for treatment, the Associated Press reported.
The crashes involved some 86 vehicles, many of them heavy trucks, on the A1 motorway that links the capital, Sofia, with the Black Sea port of Burgas. The first emergency call came in at 7:10 a.m. local time, and the pile-ups happened within minutes of each other at kilometre 289, on the carriageway toward Burgas, and kilometre 294, toward Sofia, near the Zimnitsa junction, according to Bulgarian media citing officials.
A bus and a truck started the chain reaction
Police said the pile-up on the Burgas-bound side began with a collision between a bus and a truck, and that fast-forming dense fog, a wet road surface and speeds unsuitable for the conditions caused the chain reactions that followed. "Right now, the priority is rescue operations. Once they are completed, the procedural and investigative actions will be carried out," Chief Inspector Todor Mishinev of the Yambol regional police told Nova TV, adding that some people were still trapped in their cars when crews arrived, Reuters reported.
Images from local media showed cars and trucks piled across both sides of the road, many overturned, crushed or forced off the carriageway. Police, firefighters and ambulance crews rushed to the scene, and the motorway was closed in both directions while rescue work went on.
The toll rose through the day
The death toll climbed as the scale of the disaster became clear. Early reports from the Yambol regional governor, cited by the Bulgarian news agency BTA, put the number of dead at five, then at least 10, with about 50 vehicles involved and 27 injured taken to regional hospitals. By the afternoon, Health Minister Ivkova confirmed 12 dead and 46 people taken to hospitals — 27 in Sliven, 12 in Yambol and seven in Burgas — and said several of the injured had serious trauma, with transfers to hospitals in Sofia under consideration, according to BTA via Benin Web TV.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev dispatched government aircraft to help move the injured. Radev interrupted a working visit with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was in Bulgaria on Tuesday, to travel to the scene. President Iliana Yotova cut short her participation in the Paris Peace Forum and returned to Bulgaria, her office announced.
Investigation under way
Police have opened an investigation. Their initial assessment points to "reduced visibility due to fast-forming dense fog, wet road surface and speeds unsuitable for the conditions," the Associated Press reported. Officials have not released the identities or nationalities of the victims, and the final death toll could still change if any of the seriously injured do not survive.
The Trakia is Bulgaria's main east-west motorway and one of its busiest freight routes. Tuesday's crashes were among the deadliest road accidents in the country in recent years.
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Sources: Reuters, November 10, 2026; The Associated Press via The Oldham Times, November 10, 2026; BTA via Benin Web TV, November 10, 2026; Political.org, November 10, 2026. Cover photo (archive): the Trakia motorway, Ivano Giambattista via Wikimedia Commons (CC0); flag of Bulgaria drawn by The Wire Post. The photo does not show the crash.