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Bulgaria Motorway Pile-Ups Leave Toll Unclear as Sources Report 11 and 12 Dead
By Maya Wilson
A series of multi-vehicle collisions in thick fog on a motorway in southeastern Bulgaria has caused a mass-casualty disaster, with two reputable reports giving different death tolls as authorities continue to establish the full scale of the incident.
Al Jazeera reported that at least 12 people were killed and dozens were hospitalized after a pile-up involving about 50 vehicles in thick fog on a motorway in southeastern Bulgaria.
Bernama, carrying a dispatch from Xinhua, reported a different account of the toll: at least 11 people were killed and 48 injured in two multi-vehicle chain collisions on the Trakia motorway near Yambol, in southeastern Bulgaria, on Tuesday morning.
The reports agree that severe fog was the central weather context surrounding the crashes, but they differ on both the reported number of deaths and aspects of how the collisions are described.
The death toll therefore remains in the process of being established. Al Jazeera’s report puts the number killed at at least 12, while the Xinhua report carried by Bernama puts the number at at least 11. The figures should not be combined or treated as a single settled toll.
Al Jazeera reported that dozens of people were hospitalized. Xinhua, as carried by Bernama, reported 48 people injured.
No victim identities were included in the reporting available from either source, and no further details about those killed or injured are established here.
The differing accounts underline that the immediate casualty picture remains incomplete following the motorway disaster near Yambol. Further official confirmation will be needed to determine the final toll and reconcile the figures reported by the two sources.
Reporting based on Al Jazeera and Xinhua dispatches; this story will be updated as further confirmation arrives.
— Maya Wilson, World Desk
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