Six were killed in a traffic accident this morning on the Trakiya highway, the Center for emergency medical aid has said.

Twenty-two have been injured and have been taken to four hospitals in Sofia. Seven patients are in a critical condition. The fatalities in the accident are five women and a man.

Earlier today a bus traveling along the Bourgas-Sofia line flipped and fell off the highway this morning near Vakarel, not far from Sofia. More than 10 ambulances, fire engines and police vehicles are at the site of the accident. Traffic on the highway gradually returns to normal.

The cause of today’s severe accident with the bus near Vakarel is most probably “a road crash which involved another vehicle”. This was the comment of Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski at an extraordinary briefing.

“I extend my sincere condolences to the families of those who died in the tragic road accident on Trakiya highway today. Both myself and the whole society share your pain and sorrow”, President Rumen Radev wrote in his official Facebook page. 

“I extend my sincere condolences to the relatives of the victims in the severe road accident on Trakiya highway”, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov wrote using his social media account. “I hope that all injured will see a quick recovery. On the part of hospitals and institutions, all measures have been taken to help those in need”, Borissov said.

Saturday will be declared a day of mourning in memory of those killed in the tragic road accident on Trakiya highway, the government told the Bulgarian National Radio. Flags of public buildings will be flown at half-staff paying homage to the dead.