18 dead in road accident near Warsaw: police

Oct 12, 2010 |

Warsaw

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Eighteen people were killed on Tuesday when a packed utility vehicle and an articulated lorry were involved in a head-on collision south of the Polish capital Warsaw, local police told AFP.

"All the people travelling in the Volkswagen Transporter, 18 in total, are dead. Sixteen died at the scene of the crash," Radom regional police spokeswoman Magdalena Siczek-Zalewska told AFP via telephone on Tuesday.

"The lorry driver sustained light injuries. He is hospitalised and his life is not in danger," she added. The lorry driver called emergency services to the crash, according to local authorities.

The passengers were seasonal apple pickers, according to police. The police were investigating the cause of the crash which occurred shortly after 6.00 am (0400 GMT) close to Nowe Miasto nad Pilica, some 80 km (50 miles) south of Warsaw.

"The utility vehicle was in the left-hand lane and it had a frontal collision with a lorry in thick fog that caused limited visibility. The temperature was slightly below zero," Siczek-Zalewska said.

"The utility vehicle was not adapted for passengers and had only six seats. People were sitting on sacks and crates. It couldn’t have ended otherwise," she added.

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