Bulgaria motorway pileup kills 11, injures 48, PM says

Eleven people died and 48 were injured on Tuesday in pileups on both sides of a motorway in southeastern Bulgaria, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said.

The crashes happened in thick fog near Yambol on the highway linking Sofia to the Black Sea city of Burgas. Yambol regional governor Georgi Chalakov told the BTA state news agency that an estimated 50 cars and trucks were involved.

Images showed overturned and smashed cars and trucks, as well as burnt-out vehicles. The injured were taken to hospitals in nearby cities, and the government dispatched two aircraft equipped with stretchers and medical teams.

Radev had been meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was visiting Bulgaria, but cancelled his later official events.

Romanian Foreign Minister Dan Neculaescu said one Romanian was among the injured and expressed condolences to the victims and their families. European Council chief Antonio Costa also said he was saddened by the accident.

European Commission figures show Bulgaria had 71 road deaths per million inhabitants in 2025, the highest rate in the European Union. A total of 456 people were killed in road traffic accidents in Bulgaria in 2025, down five percent from the previous year and 27 percent lower than in 2019.

The European Union has set a target to reduce road deaths and serious injuries by 50 percent by 2030. A European Commission report in October said most member states were not yet on track, though Bulgaria was among five countries on track to meet the target. The report said Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia still had the EU's highest fatality rates by deaths per million inhabitants.