Bulgaria motorway pileup kills at least 11

SOFIA

A vehicle crash caused by dense fog on a motorway near Yambol, Bulgaria, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026. (Bulgarian News Agency via AP)

Eleven people died and dozens were injured on Nov. 10 in pileups on both sides of a motorway in southeastern Bulgaria, whose roads rank as the most dangerous in the EU.

The pileups snaring dozens of vehicles took place in thick fog near Yambol in the southeast of the Balkan nation, on the highway linking the capital Sofia to the city of Burgas on the Black Sea.

 
An estimated 50 cars and trucks were involved in the accident, the regional governor of Yambol, Georgi Chalakov, told the BTA state news agency, as government officials rushed to the scene.

Images showed overturned and smashed cars and trucks, mangled together, as well as burnt-out vehicles.

“The toll at this point is 11 dead and 48 injured,” Prime Minister Rumen Radev told reporters. Radev was meeting EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, who is on a visit to Bulgaria, but the prime minister canceled his official events scheduled for later on Nov. 10.

Bulgaria saw 71 road fatalities per million inhabitants in 2025, the highest rate in the EU, according to European Commission figures.