A minibus fell into the Danube on Monday afternoon after colliding with another vehicle on DN6, on a viaduct in Mehedinți County. The Red Intervention Plan has been activated. Numerous intervention forces have been mobilized, but a full team of divers is expected at the scene.
Authorities sent divers and a high-performance underwater drone to search for the car and the victims. The minibus was found a few hours later, along with a victim.
According to the head of the Emergency Department, Raed Arafat, the minibus is “not visible at all”, being completely submerged. At the same time, the exact number of people on board is not yet known.
“At this time, we do not have confirmation of the number of people in the minibus. It is possible, according to some information received recently, that it is only the driver, or the driver and another person, but we do not have this confirmation, which is why we are treating the situation as if we have many more people under water. At this time, forces have been mobilized at the level of Mehedinți County, divers and a crane are coming from Craiova, and from Caraș County, from Reșița, a number of divers are coming by air. And we have requested an underwater search drone from the Gorj Mountain Rescue, which is on the way. We are waiting for the first team of divers. The following aspect must be understood: a diver alone cannot go down. According to the latest regulations, and according to which we operate, four divers are needed to be able to do a dive and for at least two to go under water. Regarding the driver of the car, I know that he was taken to the hospital. “We don’t have any information about who was in the minibus at this time. Unfortunately, for someone who was under water for so long, I don’t think there’s a chance of rescue,” Arafat said.
The prefect of Mehedinți County told HotNews that the minibus is submerged at a depth of 10 meters. “Divers from several counties are heading to the accident site. The vehicle is in the Danube at a depth of 10 meters. We do not know exactly the model of the vehicle or the number of passengers,” said the prefect of Mehedinți, Constantin Alin Isuf.
The Romanian Police Infotrafic Center informs that the accident on DN 6, between Drobeta-Turnu Severin and Orşova, Mehedinţi County, occurred after a vehicle (possibly a passenger minibus), in order to avoid impact with a car, left the roadway and overturned into the Danube. According to the Infotrafic Center, there are currently no known data on victims, firefighters are currently intervening to rescue people who may be in the minibus. Road traffic is completely blocked on the Bahna viaduct, until the operation to lift the vehicle from the Danube, which is not visible, is completed, the water depth in that place being over 12 meters.