The traffic situation in Bulgaria is dynamic and busy on Sunday, August 23, due to the intense holiday traffic at the end of the week.
The “Road Infrastructure“ Agency (API) is introducing extraordinary measures to ease traffic. According to information from the official website of the RIA (www.api.bg), today from 16:00 to 20:00, heavy trucks over 12 tons will be stopped on the “Trakia“ and “Struma“ highways, as well as on the I-1 road through the Kresna Gorge in the direction of Sofia. In the Simitli region, a two-lane reverse traffic is being introduced to the capital to accommodate the convoys from Greece and the Black Sea coast. Drivers of trucks over 12 tons can use the I-6 Sub-Balkan Road as an alternative. Long-term repairs continue on the Trakia Motorway with narrowings and restrictions to 100 km/h, activities on drainage facilities on the Struma Motorway and repair work near Varna on the Hemus Motorway. The Ministry of Interior warns that at temperatures above 35 degrees in the afternoon, trucks over 20 tons will be stopped in 12 regions of the country.
The Border Police reports increased traffic on the Bulgarian borders. According to the daily update of the Ministry of Interior press center (www.mvr.bg), traffic is extremely intense for passenger cars at the Kulata Border Checkpoint on the border with Greece, where teams of the Traffic Police are regulating traffic on site. The flow of cars has also increased at the "Kalotina" border checkpoint with Serbia. On the border with Turkey, at the "Kapitan Andreevo" border checkpoint, a concentration of trucks is observed at the exit. On the border with Romania, the passage through most points is normal, but the ferry connections Oryahovo - Beket and Svishtov - Zimnich remain temporarily suspended due to the critically low level of the Danube River.
The black statistics of the Traffic Police for the past 24 hours report a high accident rate on the roads. Official data of the Ministry of Interior, published by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (www.bta.bg), show a total of 31 serious accidents on the territory of the country in the last 24 hours. No deaths were reported in these incidents, but 42 people were injured. In Sofia, 25 minor and one serious road traffic accident with one victim were registered. Since the beginning of 2026, the number of road fatalities in our country has already reached 298 people.
Fire safety in the country remains complicated due to high summer temperatures. The General Directorate of “Fire Safety and Population Protection“ (www.mvr.bg/gdpbzn) informed that over the past 24 hours, firefighters have responded to a total of 180 accident reports and extinguished 141 fires. Of these, 21 caused direct material damage (including in residential buildings and cars), and 114 did not cause material damage, with 76 occurring in dry grass, bushes and forest litter. Two people were injured in the fires during the day.
The conditions for tourism in the mountains are very good today, according to the Mountain Rescue Service of the Bulgarian Red Cross (www.redcross.bg). The weather in the higher parts is clear, sunny and calm with temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees. However, rescuers are calling for increased attention after a busy day, in which four people were helped. Three of the rescue operations were carried out in the area of Mount Musala, including the evacuation of a 77-year-old man with heart problems and a girl who collapsed. Serious incidents were also registered in the Stara Planina Mountains below Mount Kom and on Malyovitsa in Rila, which required the intervention of fire brigade teams and a rescue helicopter "Kugar". The Mountain Rescue Service reminds tourists to set off with well-charged phones and adequate water supplies for the heat.