Twelve die in fog pile-ups on Bulgaria’s main motorway, and the prime minister turns on the road that was laid two years ago

Twelve people have been killed and about 50 injured after two pile-ups in dense fog on the Trakia motorway in south-eastern Bulgaria on Tuesday.

The crashes happened near the Zimnitsa junction, close to the town of Yambol. Eleven people died at the scene and one later in hospital, the health minister said. Forty-six people were taken to hospital. Officials said 86 vehicles were involved across the two pile-ups, with cars and trucks left jammed across all six lanes.

Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who went to the scene on Tuesday, said the Council of Ministers would declare Wednesday, 11 November, a national day of mourning.

What caused it?

Fog is the most likely cause, Interior Ministry officials said, with the first collision believed to be between a bus and a truck. The interior minister put visibility at 70 to 80 metres, and Radev said it was so poor that police teams had trouble even reaching the site.

At highway speed, 70 metres is covered in under two and a half seconds, less than the time most drivers need to see a hazard and stop.

Why is the prime minister blaming the road?

Radev did not stop at the weather. He said the asphalt on the main lane had been laid only two years ago and questioned the quality of the work. He called the failings “systemic”, pointed to a National Audit Office report on the motorway, and said acceptance certificates had been issued even though problems were known.

He said he expected the Prosecutor’s Office to open its own investigation, and noted that Bulgarians were still waiting for the outcome of proceedings over the Hemus motorway, another troubled national road project.

Who is investigating?

The National Investigation Service has taken over the case, and nine investigators have been assigned to it, the interior minister said. The government has also promised financial compensation for victims’ families, to be set out by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy.

What is the political fallout?

By Tuesday evening the opposition GERB party, Bulgaria’s largest centre-right party, was calling for Radev and his ministers to resign over the crash. Radev said the government would build a round-the-clock national road safety information centre in 2027 and put electronic information boards along the motorways, so that drivers are warned about fog and crashes ahead before they reach them.

Why does this road matter?

The Trakia is Bulgaria’s main east-west artery, running from Sofia through Plovdiv to the Black Sea port of Burgas. It carries heavy freight and holiday traffic, and the stretch near Yambol crosses the open Thracian plain, where autumn fog can settle quickly.

Bulgaria already has one of the worst road safety records in the European Union, and Tuesday’s crash will sharpen questions about whether repeated audit warnings on the country’s motorways have been acted on.