A sharp drop in visibility, insufficient distance and possibly overtaking that was not adapted to the road conditions are among the possible causes of the serious chain-reaction crashes on the Trakia motorway near Zimnitsa. Road traffic expert Krasimir Georgiev said this on the air of Bulgaria ON AIR.
“When visibility is reduced, we should not drive in the left lane and overtake,” Georgiev said. According to him, in dense fog, the lights of the vehicle traveling ahead should be barely visible, which indicates that the distance is sufficiently large.
According to the expert, an initial overtaking maneuver may have led to a dangerous situation between two vehicles. After they collided, both lanes may have been blocked, and the vehicles behind them may have started crashing into one another. Georgiev stressed that when visibility is around 20–30 meters, speed must be reduced immediately.
Fog reduced visibility to around 10 meters
The Interior Ministry cited the sudden and dense fog as a probable cause of the crashes. According to witness accounts, visibility was initially around 70–80 meters, but at one point it fell to approximately 10 meters.
The first incident occurred in the lanes toward Burgas. According to the Interior Ministry, a truck blocked the path of a bus. A truck carrying grain crashed into the bus, after which a passenger car also collided with it. A total of 86 vehicles were involved in the subsequent collisions – 63 traveling toward Burgas and 23 toward Sofia.
All those killed were found in the lanes toward Burgas. The Interior Ministry believes that the crash in the opposite direction may have occurred through a similar chain of events, with drivers’ attention distracted by the serious accident across the motorway.
11 dead, 51 people hospitalized
According to the latest information from the Ministry of Health, 11 people have died. Ten died at the scene, while one of those hospitalized in Yambol later succumbed to their injuries. A total of 51 injured people are being treated in hospitals in Sliven, Yambol and Burgas, 13 of them seriously injured.
Earlier reports of 12 victims were corrected after the identities of those killed were established and the number of injured was clarified.
Road surface and markings under inspection
The Road Infrastructure Agency has begun an inspection of the section. Once the investigative work is completed, asphalt samples will be taken and visible deformations in the road surface will be examined. Authorities will also establish when the road markings were last renewed.
Two pre-trial proceedings have been opened in connection with the case, as the crashes occurred in both directions of the motorway. The investigation will be taken over by the National Investigation Service. Inspections, interrogations and expert assessments are forthcoming to clarify the exact mechanism and causes of the collisions.
Sources: blitz.bg, bntnews.bg, focus-news.net