A woman whose partner died in one of two pile-ups near the Zimnitsa junction on the Trakia motorway has described their last evening together on social media. He was the father of a small boy. Yambol regional governor Georgi Chalakov said more than 10 people died in the two crashes.

One crash happened in the Burgas lane at the 289th km. The other was in the Sofia direction at the 294th km, before the junction. Ambulance teams from Yambol, Sliven and Burgas went to help the injured.

In her post, the woman says he came home from work earlier than usual that evening, although he often got back late. They had each bought a toy for the boy. They opened only hers. He left his for the next day, saying he would give it to the boy then. They talked and laughed. At the end he suggested going to bed, because in the morning he again would not be able to get up for work.

The next morning she dressed and fed the child without looking at her phone. When the boy took the phone to play with, she saw the BG-Alert message. She called her partner twice, but he did not pick up. He often did not answer her straight away while at work, so she wrote to him, but got no reply. Ten minutes later she learned he had died.

The woman writes that she is not looking for pity but wants more people to hear her. She urges everyone not to put anything off until tomorrow and to enjoy their husband or wife, children, family and friends, because nobody knows what lies ahead. She says life has proved to her more than once how short it is.

The first report of a crash came at about 7.10am, with a second, in the Sofia lane, a little later. Cars and heavy lorries were involved in both. The Yambol governor first spoke of more than 50 vehicles, then said about 50. Engineer Galin Kostov, head of the Regional Road Administration, said the exact number is not yet known. The interior ministry said the cause was poor visibility due to fog in the area, and urged drivers to take extra care.

The motorway is closed in both directions from Zimnitsa to Karnobat. The diversion runs through Karnobat – Petolachkata – Sliven – road II-53 – Krushare junction. Traffic leaving the Trakia motorway at Nova Zagora is sent towards Sliven Mineral Baths and the Sofia – Burgas road along the foot of the Balkan Mountains. Police in Sliven are directing traffic at Petolachkata and are not letting cars go through Zimnitsa to the motorway. A BG-ALERT message was also sent, including to Sliven region.

Traffic police, firefighters and ambulance crews are at the scene, and officers are directing traffic both ways. The Fire Safety and Civil Protection Directorate said 14 fire crews are working there. Guardrails have to be taken down.

Teams from Sliven, Burgas and the Emergency Air Rescue Centre have been mobilised in hospitals. The defence ministry said the Spartan military transport plane has taken off for Burgas and is ready to carry the injured from the Zimnitsa area to Yambol.

St Panteleimon hospital in Yambol has admitted four people with serious injuries. Deputy director Dr Valentin Valchev said patients in such severe crashes usually have multiple injuries. "Except for neurosurgery, because we do not have such a unit, we can treat all other conditions in our hospital," he told BNT.

The hospital in Sliven will take eight injured people, regional governor Mihail Kasherov told BTA. Seven have injuries to the limbs and chest, and one is in a very serious condition with a head injury. Earlier, the Sliven regional police directorate (ODMVR) said no injured people had arrived there yet and the exact number of injured was unclear.

On 10 November we reported that at least 11 people were dead and 50 injured in two pile-ups on the Trakia motorway near Yambol. The first report came at about 7:00am for the Burgas lane, and soon after a second followed, towards Sofia.

Labour and social policy minister Natalia Efremova and youth and sport minister Encho Keryazov cancelled their visit to Yambol because of the crashes. Interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev ordered acting interior ministry chief secretary Chief Commissioner Lyubomir Nikolov and deputy minister Kaloyan Kaloyanov to go to the scene. They will make statements there at 12:00pm. Health minister Katya Ivkova is also travelling to the crash site. Later in the day she will give a briefing at Dr Ivan Seliminski hospital in Sliven.