Police have detained the driver of the lorry that, according to early Interior Ministry data, set off the pile-up on the Trakia motorway. He is a Romanian citizen, said chief commissioner Dobrin Dimitrov, head of the regional police directorate in Yambol.
The crash happened yesterday, 10 November. Prime minister Rumen Radev called off his events in Varna and a cabinet meeting because of it. Today is a day of mourning.
What happened before: Day of mourning tomorrow after Trakia motorway pile-ups near Zimnitsa
Official figures say 86 vehicles collided between the Zimnitsa and Kabile junctions. Eleven people died and dozens were injured. Hospitals in Yambol, Sliven and Burgas took in the injured.
Police have questioned the driver once and will talk to him again. It is not clear what the lorry was doing just before the impact: whether it had stopped on the road, was moving slowly or was manoeuvring.
Early Interior Ministry data say a passenger bus hit a lorry that was blocking its path. Another lorry loaded with wheat then ploughed into the bus, followed by a car, and then dozens of other vehicles collided.
The first impact was near km 289 in the Burgas-bound carriageway, but crashes happened in both directions. Of the vehicles, 63 were in the Burgas-bound carriageway and 23 in the opposite one.
Fog that suddenly thickened is thought to be one of the main causes. Witnesses say visibility was about 70–80 metres, then dropped sharply to about 10 metres at the crash site.
The National Investigation Service is leading the inquiry, under the supervision of the district prosecutor's office in Yambol.