As many as 18 Romanians died on Sunday, June 23, in a bus crash in Montenegro. The other 29 people on the bus were injured with heavy wounds, out of which 7 are in intensive care in the Podgorita hospital, according to Romanian authorities. The 47 people, including a child who is also injured, were on a tour organized by Maree Travel, and by the bus operator Gregory Tour. Two drivers and a guide were also among the 47.

Romania sent subsecretary of state Raed Arafat, founder of the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication, on a military airplane, together with two people from Romania's External Affairs Ministry, to evaluate the situation and decide whether some of the injured need to be brought home. According to Arafat, it is possible to bring back home some of the deceased on the plane's return flight, as the injured will be taken home with another flight, should the assessment show they need to be taken back to Romania.

The patients who are injured were taken to the Clinical center of Montenegro, which posted a status update and the type of care needed by the injured. Six required orthopedics and traumatology care, five other, ophthalmology care, five of the injured needed thoracic surgery, three required otorinolaringology and maxillofacial surgery, one - digestive surgery, another one plastic surgery and another person, neurosurgery. The full statement from the clinic and the names of the injured here.

The Romanian tourists were on a six-day touristic circuit in Montenegro and Croatia, having left on Saturday, June 22 from Bucharest, stopped in Belgrade for one night, and drove further on Sunday, June 23. The Maree Travel tour operator's representative Marius Usturoi said they have worked before with the bus operator Gregory Tour, without ay other incidents, and that none have an explanation for the crash, as both the bus and the drivers were in best condition.

The crash happened in Grlo, where the bus fell 40 meters down into an abyss from a mountain bridge, 30 kilometers from Podgorita, where the injured were taken to the hospital. According to eye witnesses, the bus first hit the balustrade of the bridge when exiting a tunnel, then fell, where it hit the rocks, without ending up in the river Moraca though. The area is known as dangerous to drivers, especially during tourist season, as the road is narrow, and accidents frequently happen there. In 2006, a train which was traveling parallel to the street derailed close to the village of Grlo and 47 people died.

The local response after the crash was very supportive, with ten of citizens from Montenegro queuing to donate blood at the local hospital, and Prime Minister Milo Djukanovici also having visited the Romanians in the hospital. At the scene of the accident, people from a nearby monastery helped to evacuate the injured, together with the Police and rescue teams.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: RTCG.me TV station)