Scene of the crash near Nowe Miasto nad Pilica, central Poland. Photo: PAP/Piotr Polak

Violation of safety rules by the driver of the Volkswagen Transporter or technical faults of either of the vehicles might have been the cause of Tuesday’s road accident in which 18 people died.

The District Prosecutor’s Office in the central city of Radom has opened an investigation on the causes of the accident which happened at 06.18 CET when a Volkswagen Transporter crashed head-on with a Volvo lorry on regional road number 707 near Nowe Miasto nad Pilica, some 80 km south of Warsaw.

“The accident scene is still being examined and the lorry driver, the only person who survived the crash with minor injuries, will be interrogated soon after receiving psychological aid,” said Piotr Figas from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Radom.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office there might have been two causes of the accident: either the minivan’s driver failed to observe safety rules and tried to overtake another car in dense fog, or one of the vehicles was faulty.

“Bodies of the crash victims will probably be presented to their families on Wednesday for identification,” said Figas, adding that the remains are being transported to the Forensic Medicine Institute in Warsaw. So far police and the Prosecutor’s Office have managed to establish that all the victims came from Opoczno county, central Poland, and maybe even from the same village.

The prosecutor claims that the investigation will mainly relay on the lorry driver’s testimony and inspection of the crash scene. “There were no traces of braking on the road but a closer inspection is needed to confirm it,” said Figas. (mg/jb)

Source: PAP