Fire on Varna-Plovdiv Train Causes Delays, Driver Hospitalized After Fainting

A fire broke out last night on the fast train traveling from Varna to Plovdiv, just before reaching Chirpan, according to BNR. The incident occurred when the locomotive of the train caught fire, as reported by passenger Atanas Angelov, who was on board.

The train had already been running an hour late, having left Stara Zagora with locomotive 43309. About 3-4 kilometers before Chirpan, smoke began to emerge, followed by flames. Despite efforts by the crew to reach the station, they were unsuccessful, and the train stopped roughly one kilometer away. Firefighters quickly arrived on the scene to extinguish the blaze.

One of the train drivers fainted during the incident and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, Angelov added. Passengers were subsequently transported to their destinations by buses.

Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) announced on its website that train traffic has since been restored. However, night trains on the Sofia-Burgas line experienced significant delays, with the train heading to the coast delayed by over two hours and the one bound for the capital by nearly three hours.