Hundreds Stranded on Roads after Chain Crashes Near Bulgaria's Burgas

Part of Trakia motorway and a bypass route leading into Burgas will remain closed at least until the afternoon on Saturday as heavy chain-reaction crashes have left the roads jammed since Friday evening.

Travelers are advised against using Trakia motorway after the Zimnitsa junction in eastern Bulgaria.

The road linking the towns of Karnobat and Aytos to Burgas has also been completely sealed off after a TIR truck crashed, blocking the lanes, despite a ban on heavy vehicles moving there.

Cars have been lining up for kilometers due to the traffic incidents, possibly caused by snow and ice on roads.

Hundreds have spent the night stranded on the two roads. Emergency teams have evacuated people with health problems, pregnant women and mothers with children.

A crisis team was formed in the night, while local authorities declared a state of emergency.

"I want to urge people there to be patient, since this kind of conditions are not common," outgoing Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said at a briefing.

He added authorities had booked rooms in two hotels in Burgas for the stranded people willing to be accommodated, assuring those would be taken there on buses sent by authorities.

Borisov explained he had talked over the phone to many of the people who contacted him on Facebook.

Many of those traveling east intend on celebrating the New Year by the Black Sea.