DPS MP and former Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov attacked Regional Minister Ivan Shishkov and Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev over their public statements following the serious chain-reaction crashes on the Trakia Motorway. The accidents near the Zimnitsa interchange on November 10 left 12 people dead, while 51 injured people were admitted to medical facilities.
“Incredible arrogance!!! Listening to this interview, I wondered which of the two Ivans responsible for the tragedy—Shishkov or Demerdzhiev—is more shameless?” Stoyanov wrote on Facebook.
He was reacting to an interview with Ivan Shishkov, in which the minister said that the current authorities should not make excuses for problems that had accumulated under those who governed the country for 15 years. Shishkov pointed out that the government had been in power for six months and that the opposition was using the tragedy to attack those in government.
“The politicians who governed us in the past tried to use the tragedy to attack a government that has been in power for six months,” Shishkov told BNT.
Stoyanov accused Demerdzhiev of underestimating the existing mechanisms for exchanging information between institutions. The reason for his criticism was a statement by the interior minister that there was no real-time connection between the cameras of the Road Infrastructure Agency and traffic police officers.
According to Demerdzhiev, visibility in the area had initially been around 70–80 metres, but the fog had suddenly become much denser. He said that, with sufficient information boards and faster coordination, the response could have been preventive.
At the same time, Anastasia Stoycheva, a meteorologist at the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, told the Bulgarian National Radio that the weekly forecast issued on November 6 had indicated that fog or low cloud was expected in the lowland areas during the night of November 10 and before noon.
NIHM told bTV that the nearest meteorological station to the crash site—the one in Karnobat—had recorded visibility of 500–600 metres at 6:40 a.m. According to the institute, the conditions had not warranted the issuance of a special fog warning.
A total of 86 vehicles were involved in the two crashes—63 travelling towards Burgas and 23 towards Sofia. On November 11, the Council of Ministers declared a national day of mourning in memory of those who died.
The investigation is continuing along all possible lines. Investigator Yasen Todorov told BNT that several people could be charged, although it was also possible for the proceedings to conclude without charges being brought. Witness statements and expert assessments are being collected in the case, while investigators are searching for eyewitnesses.
At present, the data made public do not provide grounds for a definitive conclusion regarding specific political or criminal responsibility. This is precisely the subject of the dispute between the government and the opposition following the tragedy.