Several cars have crashed on the Trakia motorway near the 266km mark, heading toward Burgas, and police have halted traffic in the area. Drivers stuck in the backup say people were hurt, and a medical helicopter landed near the crash site to pick up one of the injured.
The queue toward Burgas keeps growing because cars behind the crash are stuck, drivers on the motorway say.
Ambulance, fire and police crews are at the scene. At least one of the injured needs urgent medical care.
Officials have not released the exact number of people hurt or their condition. They say they will give details once the rescue operation is over. It's also not clear yet which hospital the injured person will be taken to.
Early reports say a heavy truck was among the vehicles involved, and witnesses at the scene say the same. The interior ministry has not confirmed this officially yet.
The cause of the crash is still unknown. Police will examine the road and the vehicles to work out the order of the collisions, how fast the cars were going, and whether a technical fault or driver error was to blame. No theory about the cause will be confirmed until that check is done.
It's not yet clear whether officials will set up a detour, and there's no word yet on when traffic will reopen. Drivers passing through the area should follow instructions from the traffic police and the Road Infrastructure Agency.
This stretch of the motorway, at the 266km mark, has seen other serious crashes before. In October 2025, a car belonging to Dimitar Naydenov, a former Burgas MP, hit a truck there and went off the road. In July, a heavy vehicle caused another serious crash on the same stretch toward Burgas, and one of the injured had to be flown to hospital by helicopter.
Updated (03.10, 15:54): The crash happened at kilometre 267 on the Trakia motorway, not kilometre 266 as first reported, bnt news reports. The motorway is fully closed between Nova Zagora and Yambol, and traffic is being diverted via the Nova Zagora junction, road II-55, Nova Zagora, road II-66, Sliven, road II-53 and the Petolachkata junction.
Updated (03.10, 16:14): One person died and two were seriously hurt in the crash, bntnews.bg reports. The alert came in at 2:23pm.
Updated (03.10, 16:22): Police say the crash was reported at around 3pm, not 2:23pm as first reported. They confirmed a heavy-duty truck with Turkish plates was among the vehicles involved. One person was killed and two were injured, police said.