2 dead, 18 hurt as minibus crashes into truck near Bucharest

Two people died and 18 others were taken to hospital after a minibus collided with a dump truck on national road DN7 near Buftea, in Ilfov county outside Bucharest, Romania's emergency inspectorate ISU said, according to Adevarul and Observator News.

The minibus was carrying 16 people when it crashed into the truck while travelling from Buftea towards Chitila, ISU said. All 16 were pulled from the vehicle; two died at the scene and three suffered serious injuries, emergency crews said.

Of the 18 people taken to hospital, two were intubated and the rest were conscious during transport, ISU said. They were taken to five hospitals in Bucharest and Ilfov county: the Bucharest University Emergency Hospital, the Bucharest Clinical Emergency Hospital, the Elias University Emergency Hospital, the Central Military University Emergency Hospital and Ilfov County Hospital.

Emergency crews gave on-site medical assistance to survivors and assessed each person's condition before deciding who needed hospital transport, ISU said. Police from the Ilfov County Police Inspectorate were alerted to the crash through the national emergency number, 112, officers said.

Officers said their initial checks found that the minibus and a convoy of vehicles including the dump truck had been travelling in the same direction on DN7 at the time of the collision. Investigators believe the minibus driver failed to keep a safe distance from the vehicles ahead of him, Romania's traffic police brigade said, citing preliminary findings. Both drivers tested negative for alcohol, police said.

Police said the exact circumstances and sequence of the crash were still being established, and that the investigation would determine with precision all the conditions under which the crash occurred. Thirteen SMURD ambulance crews, two vehicles for transporting multiple casualties, two fire engines and a special rescue detachment responded to the crash, authorities said.

The rescue detachment and paramedics worked alongside police to secure the crash site and direct traffic around the wreckage while recovery operations continued. Traffic on DN7 was halted while emergency crews worked at the scene, with police estimating the road would reopen after 11.30am, Romania's national traffic information centre, part of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, told Observator News. Drivers in the area were advised to follow the instructions of officers directing traffic around the crash site until the road fully reopened.