Eleven people were killed and 50 others injured in two pile-ups on the Trakia motorway near Yambol in southeastern Bulgaria on Tuesday morning, Xinhua reports.
Ten people died at the scene and another died later in hospital, while all 50 injured people were hospitalized, 13 of them with serious injuries, the country's Health Ministry said.
Deputy Interior Minister Kaloyan Kaloyanov said at a press conference that 86 vehicles were involved, 63 in the Burgas-bound pileup and 23 in the Sofia-bound pileup.
Lyubomir Nikolov, acting secretary-general of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, said all 11 fatalities occurred in the Burgas-bound pileup, which began when a truck cut off a passenger bus, triggering a series of crashes involving a wheat-carrying truck and a passenger car.
Nikolov said sudden, dense fog was the likely cause, citing eyewitnesses who reported that visibility fell abruptly from 70 to 80 meters to 10 meters.
An investigation of the accidents is underway.
The Bulgarian government declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for the victims, extended its condolences to the victims' families and said flags at all state institutions would be flown at half-staff.
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