Tragic bus accident in northern Montenegro: 18 Romanian tourists died, 29 injured, 4 in critical condition

Podgorica, Montenegro (24 June 2013) – Eighteen persons died and 29 were injured after a bus with Romanian license plates skidded off a main road in Montenegro on Sunday afternoon. The authorities are investigating the cause of the tragic accident, a representative of Montenegro’s Police Authority stated.

Seven injured passengers are currently treated in the intensive care unit of Podgorica’s Clinical Centre, of which four are in critical condition, the latest report from the Clinical Centre says. The Clinical Centre’s press release in English is available here.

The bus, driving between Montenegro’s capital Podgorica and Kolašin, slid off the road around 5 p.m. CET and crashed down about 50 metres into a gorge near Morača River.

At today’s press conference in the Clinical Centre in Podgorica, Romanian Under-Secretary of State for Health Read Arafat thanked Montenegro on behalf of the Romanian Government for the efforts and assistance provided in order to avoid more severe consequences of the disastrous accident. He also said the injured passengers will be taken home should the medical assessments show they are able to travel back to Romania and announced the arrival of the Romanian foreign minister to Montenegro this afternoon.

On the day of the accident, the local population, traffic participants, members of the military, emergency and rescue services, fire brigade, ambulance, and police made extensive efforts to get the wounded out of the hardly accessible area of the Morača Canyon and provide transport to medical centres for the seriously injured. Montenegro’s interior and transport ministers also arrived at the scene soon after the accident.

During the night, many citizens of Podgorica were queuing at the Podgorica Clinical Centre to donate blood and Prime Minister Milo Đukanović visited the injured Romanian tourists.