Bulgaria Pile-Up Toll Rises to 12 Dead and 86 Vehicles; November 11 Declared a National Day of Mourning
Sofia — Bulgaria's Health Minister Katya Ivkova said on Nov. 10 that the two chain-reaction pile-ups that morning on the Trakia motorway near Yambol had killed 12 people — 10 at the scene and 2 during transport or after reaching hospital — and that 46 injured people had been taken for treatment. Prime Minister Rumen Radev declared Nov. 11 a national day of mourning.
Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Lyubomir Nikolov said about 86 vehicles were involved in total: roughly 63 on the Burgas-bound carriageway and 23 on the Sofia-bound carriageway, near kilometre markers 289 and 294 by the village of Zimnitsa in the Yambol region. The first emergency call was received at 7:10 a.m. local time. Officials said rapidly forming dense fog, a wet road surface and unsuitable speeds combined to cause the crashes, and that some drivers in the second pile-up were also distracted by the first crash scene.
Radev called it a dark day for the whole of Bulgaria. He broke off engagements with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was visiting Bulgaria and who shortened her visit and expressed condolences; a cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was cancelled, and a government aircraft was sent to Burgas to stand by for airlifting the injured. President Iliana Yotova also cut short her participation in the Paris Peace Forum to return home.
Authorities have opened two pre-trial investigations, one for each carriageway, and the National Investigation Service is to examine the sites, preserve recordings and interview witnesses. GSM's earlier report put the toll at about 50 vehicles, 10 dead and 27 injured; this story updates those figures to the latest official Bulgarian numbers.
Related: About 50 vehicles pile up on Bulgaria's Trakia motorway: at least 10 dead, 27 injured
(Source: Bulgarian National Radio)
Source: Bulgarian National Radio
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：保加利亚特拉基亚高速公路（资料图）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，CC0。 / Photo: Bulgaria's Trakia motorway (file photo). Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
- 2026-11-10Around 50 Vehicles Pile Up on Bulgaria's Trakia Motorway: At Least 10 Dead, 27 Injured
- 2026-11-10Bulgaria Pile-Up Toll Rises to 12 Dead and 86 Vehicles; November 11 Declared a National Day of MourningThis story
