On Monday, a new witness of Sunday’s deadly crash in northern Greece came forward to authorities. The man claims to have been a passenger in the truck that plowed into dozens of cars on the Egnatia Highway between Veria and Thessaloniki, killing five motorists and injuring at least 30.
Skai reported that the man, whose identity has not been made public, approached residents of a village near the crash site and asked to be directed to the nearest police station. He appeared to have suffered minor injuries, the report noted.
The driver of the truck, a 39-year-old Romanian national who was arrested shortly after the incident, is due to appear before a prosecutor on Thursday to present his defense. In his initial deposition immediately following the accident, he claimed that, owing to brake failure, he was unable to control his vehicle as it careened into more than 30 cars that had come to a stop at a point in the highway where roadworks were under way.
A day after the accident, the Egnatia Highway management released an official 184-word announcement regarding the incident. It makes no stipulation about the inadequate signage at the site. The brief statement points to electrical works by the Public Power Corporation taking place on the Egnatia Highway that led to the closure of its lanes, including the one designated for emergencies. The press release offers no explanation for the cause of the tragic accident.
Authorities had not been aware of the presence of a second person in the truck.
Watch the video taken just minutes after the crash by an onlooking driver:
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