Ukrainian Bus with 59 Passengers Involved in Accident in Poland: Police Identifies Probable Cause

The Polish police have named the probable cause of the accident that occurred today in the Lubelskie Voivodeship involving a Ukrainian bus with 59 passengers, Ukrinform reports. 

The driver of the Ukrainian bus Kherson-Gdansk probably lost control of the vehicle at a bend in the road, which led to an accident near the Polish-Ukrainian border in the morning of 27 January.  Malgorzata Skowronska, a representative of the media relations department of the Lubelskie Voivodeship Police (Poland), told Ukrinform in a commentary.

"According to preliminary data, the driver of a Setra bus lost control of the vehicle while turning a corner, which led to the vehicle overturning," the police officer said.

According to her, a breathalyser test showed that both drivers were sober.

She noted that the accident occurred at around five in the morning (Kyiv time) on a local road in the village of Golembie. There were 59 passengers and two drivers on the bus, all citizens of Ukraine. Twenty people were transported to hospitals in Hrubieszow, Zamosc and Tomaszow Lubelski.

"None of the victims were seriously injured," said Skovronska.

She added that the rest of the passengers were provided with temporary shelter in a room in the village where the accident occurred.

The police representative said that the police and the prosecutor are still working at the scene of the accident, and they will decide what further actions will be taken against the driver of the Ukrainian bus.

As reported by the agency, on Saturday morning, Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said that the Consulate General of Ukraine in Lublin is working with Polish law enforcement to clarify all the circumstances of the accident, and is monitoring the treatment of the injured citizens. The issue of providing another bus for the passengers is also being resolved.