Fog pile-ups on Bulgaria's Trakia motorway leave 12 dead

Twelve people are dead after two pile-ups on Bulgaria's Trakia motorway, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said. Health Minister Katya Ivkova said 11 died at the scene near the town of Zimnitsa on Tuesday, and a 12th person died later in hospital. About 50 more were taken to hospital with injuries.

Sliven regional governor Mihail Kasherov said more than 70 vehicles were caught in the crashes, Bulgarian state news agency BTA reported. The first pile-up hit the eastbound carriageway, and officials said dense fog cut visibility and was the likely cause. The second, on the Sofia-bound side, was likely down to the fog too, with drivers distracted by the first crash, an official told BTA. Radev declared Wednesday a day of national mourning.

Yambol regional governor Georgi Chalakov said the first reports came in at 07:10 local time (05:10 GMT), with the injured driven by ambulance to hospitals across the Yambol, Sliven and Burgas regions. Rescue teams had to tear out sections of the crash barrier to reach people, he told BTA, and the fog was so thick that helicopters could not join the evacuation.

Road administration director Galin Kostov said speeds were unsuitable for the conditions, which included wet road surfaces, and the motorway would stay shut until it was cleared. The Trakia runs west to east across Bulgaria, linking the capital Sofia to the Black Sea coast.

Witnesses described the chaos to Reuters. One man who pulled a passenger from a burning vehicle blamed the pile-up on the weather. A second witness said simply that many, many people had died, then described four cars and trucks behind him and how he still does not know how he escaped.

Radev had been hosting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen when he learned of the crash. He cut the news conference short and went to the scene.