Death toll in 86-vehicle chain crash on Bulgaria’s Trakia Motorway is 12, with final figure pending
The known death toll in the November 10 chain crash near Yambol on Bulgaria’s Trakia Motorway is 12, with 48 people seriously injured, according to Prime Minister Roumen Radev, while the Health Ministry cautioned that this may not be the final figure for the death toll.
The chain crash involved a succession of two accidents, according to the Interior Ministry, which said that on a section of the motorway in the direction of Bourgas, a lorry blocked the path of a bus carrying a group of people.
Subsequently, there was a collision involving a lorry carrying wheat, and a passenger car crashed into it, the Interior Ministry said.
The ministry said that 86 vehicles were involved in the incident in both directions of the motorway – 63 that had been travelling towards Bourgas and 23 towards Sofia.
Acting Interior Ministry chief secretary Lyubomir Nikolov said that all those who died had been travelling in the lane towards Bourgas.
A probable cause for the serious accident was sharp and dense fog, the ministry said.
According to witnesses, visibility was initially about 70–80 metres, but at a certain point it sharply decreased to about 10 metres.
The ministry said that it is assumed that the accident in the lane for Sofia occurred in a similar way, and it is possible that the drivers’ attention was diverted by the serious accident in the opposite lane.
Two pre-trial proceedings have been initiated, as the traffic accidents occurred in both directions of the highway.
The Health Ministry said that a total of 46 people had been admitted to hospitals in Sliven, Yambol and Bourgas.
Among the injured in Bourgas is a patient in serious condition who is in the operating room, as well as a patient with severe chest trauma.
Hospitals in Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Haskovo and Sofia remain ready to accept injured people if necessary, the Health Ministry said.
It is possible that the death toll will rise after the cleanup is complete, the ministry said.
A medical helicopter took off from Sliven but was unable to land due to thick fog. The air ambulance teams were transported to the scene in police cars and joined the rescue operation. They remain on standby, the statement said.
It said that half of the area has been cleared so far. The most difficult stage of the operation is ahead – cutting up and clearing the cars that are piled up on top of each other, it said.
Sufficient quantities of blood have been provided in all medical facilities where injured people are being treated. Additional quantities will be provided if necessary.
The Bulgarian government information service said that Radev had cancelled events on his programme in Varna following his meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The November 10 meeting of the Cabinet also was cancelled. The agenda for the Cabinet meeting had included amendments to the Road Traffic Act.
Radev said that news of the crash had reached him while he was on the government aircraft on the way to Varna.
“Immediately after landing, I ordered the Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev to leave on the government plane for Bourgas so that it could transport the wounded to hospitals in Sofia,” Radev said.
Two Spartan military transport planes immediately landed at Bourgas airport with stretchers and medical teams, he said.
At the moment, the information from the incident is about 12 dead and 48 injured, Radev said.
Since the concentration of the injured is in the hospitals in Sliven and Yambol, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov ordered the military transport planes to be re-based from Bourgas to the Bezmer airport in Yambol.
“We remain fully prepared for the evacuation of the injured from Sliven, Yambol and Bourgas to the hospitals in Sofia,” Radev said.
President Ilana Yotova cancelled a trip to Paris that had been scheduled for November 10.
(Photo: Interior Ministry)
