The Romanian authorities have sent two military aircraft to Montenegro to bring back home the Romanians who were injured in the bus crash, which happened over the week-end in Montenegro. Both airplanes- Hercules and Spartan - left Romania this morning, one carrying 12 stretchers and intensive care equipment, while the other enough room and equipment to carry 18 injured. On board of the airplanes are 11 doctors, 11 assistants from Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication (SMURD), five employees of the Ministry of defense, coordinated by Bogdan Oprita, who runs SMURD Bucharest and is the spokesperson for Floreasca Emergency Hospital. Meanwhile, Romania is considering declaring a state of mourning on Wednesday, June 26.

The Romanians injured in the bus crash, 29 people, will be taken to four hospitals in Bucharest later today, when they will land. The staff on board of the aircraft, together with sub-secretary of state Raed Arafat, founder of the Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication, will decide which of those injured are safe to be transported back home, and which will continue to receive medical care in Podgorita. Seven of the 29 injured are still in intensive care. The bus crash killed 18 Romanians, but information on the return of their bodies to Romania has not yet been revealed. Romania sent Raed Arafat, on a military airplane to Montenegro, soon after the bus crash, together with two people from Romania's External Affairs Ministry, to evaluate the situation and decide whether some of the injured needed to be brought home. According to Arafat, it is possible to bring back home some of the deceased on the plane's return flight.

This is one of the largest such actions organized by Romania, and was one of the biggest car accidents involving that many Romanian victims abroad. 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 serious wounds, out of which 7 are in intensive care in the Podgorita hospital, according to the Romanian authorities. The 47 people, including a child who was 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.

The 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 others, 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 there is no explanation for the crash, as both the bus and the drivers were in the 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, although without falling all the way down to the River Moraca though. The area is known as dangerous for drivers, especially during tourist season, as the road is narrow, and accidents are common.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Wikipedia)