People hurt in the serious crashes on the Trakia motorway say they are being asked for money to get their cars back from the car park where they were taken. Dimitar Mikhailov, head of the Roadside Assistance Industry Union association, told BNT.

The association has written to interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev, asking for an urgent meeting.

"Reports started pouring in this morning," Mikhailov said. There are claims that people have to pay to get their cars out of the car park. Those who asked its owners or people on site were promised they would be told the price of the "assistance" later.

On social media, people mention sums of 8,000 and 6,000, and in some cases no amount is given. The information has not been confirmed.

The cars were unloaded at a car park whose owner declined to comment. Local authorities told the association to take all towed cars there and unload them.

The association used its own equipment and towed the cars free of charge, to help the victims and get traffic moving on the motorway again.

The association is worried about how people will see it, because it promised help that was completely free. Mikhailov says the union's name has been dragged into a scandal that is "not right".

On 11 November we reported that after a crash in the Yambol area, police closed the Sofia-bound carriageway of the motorway, and drivers from Burgas took a detour via Karnobat and Petolachkata.

"We are also asking the state, the minister, to come out and say that these cars will be fully controlled when they are returned," Mikhailov said.