Boulder smashed into car killing driver in Jiu Valley accident

A boulder that broke off from a slope fell on a car on national road 66 in Romania's Jiu Valley. The boulder smashed through the windshield and killed the driver.

Rescue teams from two counties rushed to the place of the accident but were unable to save the man. Three other passengers were in the car, but they escaped unscathed. Traffic was resumed after the wreckage and other debris were cleared from the road.

“As a result of today's tragic event on DN66, I have once again asked all the regional directors within CNAIR to carry out additional checks and interventions on the roads that pass through mountain areas. We intervene, monitor permanently, and do everything possible to protect road traffic participants from stones and trees that may fall from the slopes,” Cristian Pistol, head of Romania’s state road company CNAIR, said in a statement cited by News.ro.

A report on the incident in Jiu Valley put together by the Craiova Regional Directorate for Roads and Bridges showed that the boulder was small in size but came from a very high altitude, from an area in which nets cannot be set up, and was probably dislodged by water or wind.

A similar incident took place in March when another boulder hit the wheel of a car in traffic. No casualties were recorded back then.

(Photo source: Pojoslaw | Dreamstime.com)